NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Overview:
Event: Weather Guard Truck Race on Dirt, Race 6 of 23, 150 Laps – 40/50/60; 75 Miles
Location:Bristol Motor Speedway (half-mile, dirt oval)
Date/Broadcast: April 8, 2023, at 8 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR 90
‘Chase’n Checkers:
Chase Purdy, Driver Q&A:
What are your thoughts on racing on the dirt at Bristol?
“It’s interesting to say the least. I’m not exactly sure what to expect this year because I don’t think there has been as many races that have been run on it since the dirt has been put down as there was the last two years. I think that will make it interesting to see how the track is run in and takes rubber and what lines we can use. I’m not really sure what to expect with our Bama Buggies team but coming off a great weekend at Texas I’m really excited to get back to the track.
Do you anything different in your preparation for a race on dirt?
“Yeah, I think you kind of just throw a lot of the things you would tend to do on asphalt tracks out the window here. There are some guys in the series you can talk to that are dirt guys like Stewart Friesen or anyone else that has run in dirt. Stewart is a good one because he’s run a truck a lot on dirt and he races dirt cars all the time when the trucks aren’t racing. I just think you have to go back and watch the previous years races to study because that’s all you have.”
Chase Purdy Career Highlights:
- Across 57 career Truck Series starts, has produced 18 laps led, one top-five and seven top-10 finishes. Posted a career-best runner-up finish at Texas Motor Speedway in April of 2023.
- Finished 16th in Truck Series championship standings in 2022.
- Finished fourth in the 2018 ARCA Menard’s Series championship standings after recording 84 laps led, 10 top-five and 14 top-10 finishes.
- Earned the 2017 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East rookie of the year honors and finished fourth in the championship standings after posting four poles, 200 laps led, five top-five and eight top-10 finishes across 14 starts.
- Won the prestigious Snowflake 100 Pro Late Model race at 5 Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Fla., in Dec. of 2018.
Chase Purdy’s No. 4 Bama Buggies Silverado RST:
KBM-35: The No. 4 Bama Buggies team will unload KBM-35 for Saturday’s race on the dirt at Bristol. This is the same truck that John Hunter Nemechek finished inside the top five at both dirt events last year, including a third-place finish at Bristol. Before being converted to a dirt truck last year, KBM-35 had one win across 17 pavement starts, which came with Daniel Suarez at Phoenix Raceway in November of 2016.
KBM-35 Performance Profile:
Starts |
Wins |
Average Start |
Average Finish |
Laps Led |
19 |
1 |
6.5 |
12.3 |
275 |
KBM Notes of Interest:
- KBM drivers has scored three wins, one pole, 495 laps led, 10 top-five and 17 top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 12.7 across 32 career starts on dirt tracks. Martin Truex Jr. won the inaugural race on the dirt at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2021, while Bubba Wallace (2014) and Christopher Bell (2015) each scored victories at Eldora Speedway.
- KBM holds the Craftsman Truck Series records for most career wins (99) and most wins in a single season (14 in 2014). With his victory at Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway last year, Corey Heim became the 18th different driver to win a Truck Series event for KBM. In addition to collecting a series-record seven Owner’s Championships, the organization has produced two championship-winning drivers: Erik Jones (2015) and Christopher Bell (2017).
- The No. 4 has 18 career victories at KBM and was the number for both of the organization’s driver championships