Purdy Focused on Regaining Momentum at Bristol

Regain Momentum … Chase Purdy has his focus fixed on regaining momentum in the final short track event of the season on Thursday night at Bristol Motor Speedway (BMS). The driver of the No. 61 Gunma Toyopet Toyota Tundra TRD Pro had finished 14^th or better in four of his last five races before a pit road violation thwarted a top-10 run last Friday at Kansas Speedway. The 22-year-old wheelman will make his second start on the concrete at “Thunder Valley” looking for a season-high result to regain the momentum he had built in the summer months.

 

Short Track History … Purdy has made three previous visits to the “Last Great Colosseum”, one on BMS’ storied concrete and two on the Tennessee dirt. His concrete debut was cut short last September but tallied a 13^th-place finish earlier this year at BMS in the season’s first dirt event. The Meridian, Miss. driver aims to turn his short track luck around on Thursday night and better his best result of 14^th in three previous short track races this season. The winner of the 2018 Snowflake 100 at Five Flags Speedway has a steep history of short track experience to tap into and restart a streak of consistency in Bristol, Tenn.

 

Season to Date … Through 19 events in Purdy’s second season, he sits 16^th in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship point standings and has recorded a career-high 11 top-15 finishes with an average finish of 17.7. 

 

Chassis Selection … Crew chief Matt Lucas and the No. 61 team have prepared chassis No. 020 for the final short track contest of 2022. This Toyota Tundra TRD Pro most recently appeared at Richmond Raceway in August where Purdy drove to a track best 14^th-place finish. It debuted under the HRE banner in the season’s first short track race at Martinsville Speedway in April.

 

Tune In … FOX Sports 1 will have live coverage for all Camping World Trucks on-track activity on Thursday beginning with practice and qualifying at 4:30 p.m. ET followed by the green flag at 9:00 p.m. ET. Stay connected with the No. 61 Gunma Toyopet team by following @Hattori_Racing on Twitter, @hattoriracing on Instagram, and Hattori Racing Enterprises on Facebook. 

 

“Things happen so quickly at Bristol that you really have to be on your toes at all times. It’s unlike any other short track we have on the truck schedule, so it’s a huge challenge. We had an awesome truck at Kansas last week and didn’t get the finish we wanted, so I’ve been pumped to get back to Bristol this week and try to make up for last week. We have an awesome looking Gunma Toyopet Toyota Tundra TRD Pro and we’ve had some good runs with this truck. We made some improvements on our short track package at Richmond, and I think we can take another step in the right direction at Bristol this week.”

 

HRE PR