Chase Purdy qualified 10th for Friday night’s season-opening NextEra Energy Resources 250, but had to start from the rear of the field after the No. 4 team found a flat tire before the second round of qualifying. Purdy along with his Kyle Busch Motorsports teammate Jack Wood and technical alliance partner Nick Sanchez all were employing the same strategy of hanging out at the back of the pack at the beginning of the Final Stage to stay clear of the aggression beginning to build at the front of the pack.
The plan was working as they avoided a seven-truck incident and six-truck accident as they were biding their time waiting until later in the race to make a move to the front. Unfortunately, rain rolled into the area and brought out red-flag conditions. As the rain subsided NASCAR attempted to send the trucks back on track to complete the race with Purdy scored in the 17th position.
Chase Purdy, Driver of the No. 4 Bama Buggies Chevrolet:
Talk about your race.
“I thought we had a really fast Bama Buggies Chevy. Big shout out to everyone at KBM that had a hand in bringing me a really fast superspeedway truck. It just sucks it had to end that way, we were riding at the end and waiting for the laps to count down and we got bit by mother nature. All-in-all, we had a really good Stage Two, finished second, got some stage points and showed what our No. 4 Chevy could do. Really happy with everybody at KBM and all the effort they put in during the offseason to keep that KBM standard speed. We’ll go to Vegas and have ourselves a good run there.”
NextEra Energy 250 Recap:
- Zane Smith won the season-opening event for the second straight year. It was the eighth victory of his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career. Tanner Gray finished second, while Christian Eckes, Colby Howard and Grant Enfinger rounded out the top five.
- There were seven cautions for 41 laps and 20 lead changes among nine drivers. Purdy led once for one lap.
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Point Standings:
Purdy leaves the opening event on the 2023 schedule 12th in the driver point standings.
