Purdy Notches Track-Best Finish at COTA

Chase Purdy scored a track-best finish on Saturday afternoon at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) with a 16th-place result. The driver of the No. 61 BAMA Buggies Toyota Tundra TRD Pro continued to climb the championship standings as the finish advanced him four positions to 19^th in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship standings.

 

Purdy posted the ninth-fastest lap in Friday’s practice session and began his second start at COTA from the 22^nd position. The Meridian, Miss. native immediately advanced into the top-20 on the opening lap and steadily worked his way towards the top-15. Crew chief Matt Lucas employed a shrewd strategy by calling Purdy to pit road on lap nine in an effort to leapfrog competitors at the impending stage caution. As a result, Purdy was scored 26^th at the end of Stage 1 on lap 12, but inherited the 11th position for the ensuing restart.

 

Purdy quickly took advantage of the track position and immediately advanced to eighth after the lap 15 restart. He ran inside the top-10 until spinning in Turn 19 and made contact with the No. 88 truck. A flat tire as a result of the spin relegated Purdy to 29^th, but managed to stay on the lead lap as Stage 2 ended on lap 26.

 

Due to pitting before the stage caution, Purdy stayed on track with fresh tires under the stage caution and held the 13^th position for the lap 30 restart. Close-quarters racing on COTA’s hairpin corners ignited numerous spins and three caution flags in the next 11 laps, which included Purdy being spun on exit of Turn 1 on an overtime restart at lap 42. Purdy restarted 21^st for the second and final restart and gained five positions in the chaotic two-lap dash to the finish. He took the checkered flag in 16^th to collect his best road course finish in three career road course starts.

 

“I felt like we had really good pace today with our BAMA Buggies Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, good enough to finish in the top-10. We got ourselves behind with that spin around halfway over in Turn 19, and that just put us in a bad spot with the No. 88. We lost our track position, but Matt (Lucas) did a good job to get us back in the top-15 and got squeezed exiting Turn 1 in overtime and got turned around. Fortunately, we were able to make the most of the second overtime restart to come back for 16th and gain some points.”

 

HRE PR