Purdy Looks to Continue Recent Strength on Toyota’s Texas Turf

Building Consistency … As the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series regular season has hit the halfway point, Chase Purdy is stringing together more impressive performances and consistent results. The driver of the No. 61 BAMA Buggies Toyota Tundra TRD Pro is coming off what was arguably his most complete effort of the season last week at Kansas Speedway. Purdy solidified himself inside the top-10 near the race’s halfway mark and made a resilient late-race rally to tie his season-best finish of 13^th following a pit road penalty. He has collected four top-15 results in his seven starts thus far in 2022.

 

Toyota’s Texas Turf … Purdy and the BAMA Buggies team return to Toyota country, racing nearby the Tundra TRD Pro’s birthplace, located in San Antonio, Texas. Friday night’s 220-mile event marks Purdy’s first TMS start behind the wheel of a Toyota, but has two previous starts at “No Limits, Texas” on his resume. The Meridian, Miss. native delivered a 12^th-place finish in his TMS debut in October 2020, which marked his second-best finish during the season in which he returned to competition. A home-race of sorts for the manufacturer could produce a season-best finish for Purdy as he looks to create a string of three top-15 finishes in his last four starts.

 

HRE Salutes … Purdy’s No. 61 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro will carry six military veterans on board at TMS. All six veterans are close to team mechanic Andrew Diehl, who comes from a proud military family. Robert Diehl (Navy), Mariano “TJ” Gonzales (Navy), Alexander Pena (Navy), Jacob Baker (Marines), Robert Goodell (Marines), and Henry Flerlage (Army) will be featured as HRE salutes our nation’s military veterans.

 

Chassis Selection … Crew chief Matt Lucas and the BAMA Buggies team return to the track with chassis No. 020 at TMS. This Toyota Tundra TRD Pro made its only appearance this season at Martinsville Speedway where Purdy suffered a flat tire and finished 29^th.

 

Tune In … FOX Sports 1 will carry all on-track activity from TMS as Purdy and the Camping World Trucks competitors open All-Star weekend. FS1’s coverage beings on Friday at 4:00 p.m. ET with practice and qualifying followed by the green flag at 8:30 p.m. ET. Stay connected with the No. 61 BAMA Buggies team by following @Hattori_Racing on Twitter, @hattoriracing on Instagram, and Hattori Racing Enterprises on Facebook.

 

“I felt like something clicked during the race at Kansas last weekend. We had a really fast BAMA Buggies Toyota Tundra TRD Pro and should have finished in the top-10. I think we all proved to ourselves we can do it and I was ready to go to Texas as soon as I got out of the truck last week. Matt (Lucas) and all the guys at HRE have put in a ton of effort on our trucks, and this is a tough stretch of the schedule for all of the guys in the shop. Hopefully we can keep building on the speed we have and get our first top-10 this week. That’d be special to do at Texas since we’re racing so close to where the Tundra TRD Pros are made. It’s always important for us to run well any time we’re in Texas because of that, and hopefully we can make it happen on Friday night.”

 

HRE PR