NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Overview:
Event: Tyson 250, Race 10 of 23, 250 Laps – 70/70/110; 156.25 Miles
Location: North Wilkesboro Speedway (0.625-mile, oval)
Date/Broadcast: May 20, 2023, at 1:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR 90
‘Chase’n Checkers:
Chase Purdy, Driver Q&A:
Are you looking forward to being a part of NASCAR’s return to North Wilkesboro?
“It’s such an iconic place and has a lot of history. The last race that they held out there I wasn’t even born yet, but I’ve seen the videos since the time I was a kid. It’s going to be really cool to race at a place that has a lot of history. Short tracks are my thing — what I grew up doing and made my career off of, so I’m excited to go there. We’ve had a really tough two weeks, but there is no reason we can’t get back to where we started the first five weeks of the season — knocking off top fives and top 10s.”
How do you prepare for a track you’ve never been to, and the series hasn’t raced at in years?
“I think the only thing you can do is go back and watch old race videos. I know myself personally and a few others that I’ve talked to, they’ve gone back and watched the last race from the 90’s that was held there just to see what racing stock cars was like out there. Some people say it hasn’t changed that much, but I have no idea what to expect and I think that levels the playing field. Everybody will be trying to figure it out at the same time and he who figures it out the best will probably win the race.”
Is there a track that you’ve raced at that you feel is similar to North Wilkesboro?
“The only thing similar that I can think of is when I used to run Late Models at Myrtle Beach and Greenville-Pickens. Very rough race tracks, very abrasive race tracks. I think tire saving is going to be big this weekend. Even though you get tires, I think you can burn your stuff up in a couple laps from what people are saying. I think managing your tires and knowing when to take off and when not to is going to be the key.”
Chase Purdy Career Highlights:
- Across 61 career Truck Series starts, has produced 18 laps led, one top-five and nine 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-58: The No. 4 Bama Buggies team will unload KBM-58 for Saturday’s race at North Wilkesboro. John Hunter Nemechek raced this truck three times in 2022, with a best result of second coming at Richmond Raceway. In 2021, Nemechek piloted KBM-58 to three wins: Charlotte Motor Speedway, Richmond Raceway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway. KBM-58 has recorded four career wins, three with Nemechek in 2021 and one with owner-driver Kyle Busch at Charlotte in 2019. This Silverado raced most recently with Purdy at Martinsville this year, where he brought home a 10th-place finish.
KBM-58 Performance Profile:
| Starts | Wins | Average Start | Average Finish | Laps Led |
| 18 | 4 | 8.5 | 10.6 | 475 |
KBM Notes of Interest:
- KBM drivers have collected 17 wins, three poles, 2705 laps led, 56 top-five and 91 top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 9.8 across 142 starts on short tracks. The team’s most recent win on a short track came at Richmond Raceway with Chandler Smith last August.
- 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).
