Bristol Ride Stops Short of The Mark for Chase Purdy

Most competitors never expected to get on the track Saturday at Bristol Motor Speedway, so for Chase Purdy to hit the high banks before rain shortened the Zombie Auto 125 it was a pleasant surprise for the driver of the No. 17 Bama Buggies Toyota. After starting via last year’s NASCAR K&N Pro Series owner points, he climbed his way to 12th before the race was called.

 

Purdy started his first career race weekend at Bristol with a single practice session on Friday afternoon where he clocked in 11th fastest. Relying on the experience of the David Gilliland Racing team, Chase relayed his feedback to the team to make changes for qualifying and the 125-lap race scheduled for Saturday afternoon.

 

Rain washed out qualifying on Friday night and the field was set by the rulebook, meaning the lineup resembled the final 2016 owner point standings. Since Chase’s team is new to the series in 2016, the No. 17 started near the tail of the field in 22nd. Once the green flag flew, Chase began working his way forward through the field, picking off a car every few laps as the lap 70 break quickly closed in.

 

Just eight laps prior to the break, rain crept into the area and forced NASCAR officials to halt the race just past the halfway point, leaving Chase just outside the top ten. His ten position gain, however, was one of the best performances of the race and has him currently sixth in NASCAR K&N Pro Series East points.

 

“I thought we really had a good car in practice and made a few changes to help it in the race,” Chase said following the event. “Starting by points really put us at a disadvantage because things happen so fast at Bristol and the field can get strung out in a hurry. We passed a bunch of cars early, but by the time I got around the last few the race went green until the weather came and it made it that much harder to run them down and pass them quickly. I’m still proud of my DGR guys, they gave me a great car and I’m looking forward to our next K&N race at South Boston.”

 

Special twin NASCAR K&N Pro Series races at South Boston Speedway are on Saturday, May 6, Chase’s next K&N Series event. Before that race, Chase will compete in a pair of Southern Super Series races at Five Flags Speedway and Mobile International Speedway this weekend (April 28-29).

 

For more information on Chase Purdy, visit his website at ChasePurdyRacing.com and follow him on Facebook (@ChasePurdyRacing), Twitter (@ChasePurdy12) and Instagram (@chase_purdy).-