Purdy Has Dirty Work to do at Bristol

Dirty Work on the “To-Do” List … Chase Purdy enters the second dirt race at Bristol Motor Speedway (BMS) for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series tied for 19^th in the standings, after ascending 21 positions in the past four events. The driver of the No. 61 BAMA Buggies Toyota Tundra TRD Pro has some dirty work ahead of him this weekend, however, as he’s searching for his first career top-10 result at a dirt track in his young career. Last week, Purdy was in the midst of a career-best run inside the top-15 at Martinsville Speedway before a cut in the left rear tire thwarted his effort. If Purdy is able to replicate that outright speed this weekend, he’ll be in line to out-perform his best result in two previous Camping World Trucks starts on dirt.

 

More of the Same … As Purdy makes his second start on the dirt at the “Last Great Colosseum”, he looks for more of the same results that he’s delivered during the first four races. The Meridian, Miss. driver has delivered track-best finishes in two of his four starts this season, which came at Atlanta Motor Speedway where he finished 14^th, and Circuit of the Americas where he grabbed a 16^th-place result. He’ll need to finish 17^th or better to tally another track-best performance on BMS’s red clay surface on Saturday night and would likely advance him forward in the championship standings.

 

Chassis Selection … Crew chief Matt Lucas and the BAMA Buggies team have prepared chassis No. 022 for Purdy’s second appearance on BMS’ dirt. This chassis is new to HRE’s fleet this season and is specifically designed for the two dirt events on the schedule.

 

Tune In … All on-track activity will be carried live on FOX Sports’ network, beginning Friday afternoon with practice at 3:00 p.m. ET and 5:30 p.m. ET on FS1. Raceday coverage begins at 4:30 p.m. ET with four heat races on FS2 followed by the main event at 8:00 p.m. ET on FS1. Stay connected with the No. 61 BAMA Buggies team by following @Hattori_Racing on Twitter, @hattoriracing on Instagram, and Hattori Racing Enterprises on Facebook. 

 

“The dirt races always seem to be really wild, really physical, and hard races to finish. There were so many incidents at Knoxville last summer, it was almost like a superspeedway race. It’s definitely a challenge to put the whole race together, but we’ve been making some good strides with our BAMA Buggies Toyota Tundra TRD Pros the last few weeks. We had a good run going last week until we cut a tire, and I think if we manage the race the right way this weekend we can come away with a good finish. It seems like forward bite is one of the biggest things you need in the dirt races, and based on last year at Bristol, managing tire wear and track position will be really important too.”

 

HRE PR