Purdy Leaves Whirlwind Weekend with Lessons & New Experiences

It was a whirlwhind weekend for Chase Purdy, the NASCAR Next driver who pilots the No. 17 in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East. Following an eventful day on Friday at Watkins Glen where he finished 15th, Chase made the trip to Indiana for his ARCA Racing Series debut and ended his maiden run in that series with a seventh place finish.
 
Chase ended Friday’s practice session at Watkins Glen sixth fastest on the speed chart, but had a couple of moments during time trials where he lost a few tenths of a second, relegating him to a starting position outside the top ten. Undeterred, he started the 100-mile contest and began to work his way through the field in the first half of the event.
 
Once the halfway break began, the David Gilliland Racing team went to work on Chase’s No. 17, servicing its needs such as fuel and tires, but also tending to the brake ducts on the front of the car, an integral part of the system which keeps the braking system cool. Extra time on pit road meant Chase was forced to start at the tail for the second half of the event, and he proceeded to fight his way forward again. An incident while racing for position during the final two-lap overtime segment of the race once again knocked him outside the top ten to his ultimate 15th place finishing position.
 
“I honestly expected to be a little bit better as a driver, but I learned a lot for my next road course experience,” Chase said after the rough-and-tumble event. “We had made our way up to around eighth or so but had to fix the brake ducts, so that put us to the back and we had to drive up through there. Then we got into it on a green-white-checker and lost a bunch of spots. Either way, I’m still proud of my DGR guys. They gave me a great car and we just weren’t able to make the most of it.”
 
Two days later, Chase competed at Winchester Speedway in the ARCA Racing Series event at the famed half-mile facility for Mason Mitchell Motorsports. Chase was one of the fastest cars during practice and backed it up with a third-quick qualifying run for his first attempt at the facility in a heavier stock car. Throughout the day, Chase and crew chief Kevin Reed worked on strategy and the car’s handling to give Chase a thorough introduction to the series and its style of racing. Ultimately, the team finished seventh, a suitable run for Purdy’s debut.
 
“I feel like the Winchester race went pretty well,” Chase remarked afterwards. “I learned a lot and had fun, and I enjoyed racing a different group of drivers. It certainly felt like the racing style was a little harder at that level. I can’t wait to get back in the car at Salem and do it again, the Mason Mitchell Motorsports team prepared a heck of a car for Winchester and I’m sure they’ll do the same again.”
 
Chase’s next event is this Wednesday night, an ARCA/CRA super late model race at Kalamazoo Speedway in Michigan. The team will be testing Chase’s super late model on Monday prior to that event. His next NASCAR K&N Pro Series race is on September 2 at Langley Speedway in Virginia, a .396-mile relatively flat asphalt oval and his next ARCA Racing Series run will come a week later at Salem Speedway in Indiana on September 9.
 

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