Purdy Drives to Another Runner-Up Finish at Langley

Chase Purdy added to his tally of podium finishes in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East on Monday by claiming his fifth second-place result of the year at Langley Speedway in the Visit Hampton Virginia 150. The finish solidified his third place ranking in the standings and moved him further ahead of his closest pursuer in series points.

By looking at the practice chart, the weekend may not have looked promising to casual observers of the No. 17 team, but the David Gilliland Racing team had a plan. Focusing on longer runs and balance on old tires, the team sacrificed short-run speed for long-run stability in the 150-lap contest and by doing so, only qualified fifth fastest at the .395-mile facility. 
 
Once the green flag was displayed to the field, Chase began to ride around the top five, noting weaknesses of his opponents and plotting his moves toward the front once the time came to make them. With about 50 laps to go, the team gave him the go-ahead to move forward and he did. A late-race restart with 15 laps to go gave him the opportunity to challenge for the win. Although unable to chase down the eventual winner, Purdy held onto second in the closing laps, his fifth top-two finish in the last nine series races. 
 
“We were P2 again after starting fifth, there’s not really much else to talk about,” Chase joked after the race, though his frustration with runner-up finishes was evident. “We saved our tires for the end and came up one spot short. We passed a bunch of guys with around 50 to go, set them up perfectly and turned under them. DGR gave me a great racecar to do that late in a run, we just were a little bit short and will look forward to New Jersey in two weeks.” 
 
Next weekend, Chase will be back behind the wheel of an ARCA Racing Series car for Mason Mitchell Motorsports at the .555-mile Salem Speedway in Indiana, a high-banked, treacherous facility where the team has seen success in the past. It will be Chase’s second career ARCA start after making his debut at Winchester earlier this year. In the NASCAR K&N Pro Series, Chase will be on-track in two weeks time at New Jersey Motorsports Park on September 16, the second of two road course visits on the schedule this year. 
 
For more information on Chase Purdy, visit his website at ChasePurdyRacing.com and follow him on Facebook (@ChasePurdyRacing), Twitter (@ChasePurdy12) and Instagram (@chase_purdy). 

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