Purdy Sets Track Record at Thompson
THOMPSON, CT — 
Chase Purdy of Meridian, MS claimed his third consecutive 21 Means 21 Pole Award Saturday afternoon at Thompson (CT) Speedway Motorsports Park.
Purdy drove his Bama Buggies/Textron Offroad Toyota No. 17 to a new track record of 20.197 seconds/111.403 MPH.
“This place is awesome,” Purdy said of the 5/8 mile oval.
“We had a setback earlier today. We wrecked our primary car we roll out the backup and we got the pole with it so that’s amazing. Hats off to all of David Gilliland Racing and my guys for scrambling to get that car ready and to go and Textron Off Road and Buggies. Those guys are the real deal and I’d do anything for ’em. They’d do anything for me and it’s just a great combination and we really make it work and I think its showing right now.”
Purdy was second at Berlin Raceway in Michigan last Saturday, matching his best career finish. He has two top tens in his last four starts.
“Right now I consider us on a good path. We’ve had some good runs and we just haven’t had the luck. Luck hasn’t fallen our way but I think it’s a turning point right now. We got the pole and it can get better from here on out.
The Sunoco Rookie of the Year leader appreciates the learning experience from the series’ diverse schedule.
“As a driver, you really learn to adapt quicker and easier. So, I consider going from Berlin somewhere where you can’t get wide open to here where you’re wide open a lot it’s that’s an easy adaption because it’s so much easier to put the throttle down than it is to back off and as a driver not hit it when you know you’re not supposed to it will wear on your rear tires so its a learning experience for everybody.”
Purdy is driving for David Gilliland Racing. The team won the CARS Tour championship last year with Raphael Lessard. DGR also fields Super Late Models and Pro Late Models.
“It’s a really good deal and really thankful for all the guys and all the work they put in the shop. You should see it. They’re there from sunup to sundown and it’s a whole team effort and everybody work their tail off to get here.”
Tonight’s Busch North Throwback 100 is the 28 series race since 1988. Ryan Truex won the last race in 2009.
NKNPS East Thompson 7/8/17 Qualifying
Pos No. Name Sponsor Best Tm Best Speed In Lap Laps Diff
1 17 Chase Purdy * Bama Buggies/Textron Offroad Toyota 20.197 111.403 2 3
2 16 Todd Gilliland NAPA Auto Parts Toyota 20.249 111.117 3 3 0.052
3 12 Harrison Burton Dex Imaging Toyota 20.264 111.034 3 3 0.067
4 31 Ryan Preece Whelen Engineering Chevrolet 20.271 110.996 2 3 0.074
5 44 Dillon Bassett Bassett Gutters and More Ford 20.329 110.679 2 2 0.132
6 04 Ronnie Bassett Jr Bassett Gutters and More Chevrolet 20.338 110.630 2 3 0.141
7 6 Chase Cabre * Lincoln Electric Toyota 20.343 110.603 2 3 0.146
8 43 Doug Coby * Dunleavy Truck/Mayhew Tools/AJ Romano Const Toyota 20.358 110.522 3 4 0.161
9 4 Jared Irvan Boyer Drilling/Overstock Mercantile Toyota 20.404 110.272 2 4 0.207
10 03 Ruben Garcia Jr Max Siegel Inc Toyota 20.406 110.262 2 3 0.209
11 30 Tyler Dippel TyCar Ford 20.420 110.186 3 4 0.223
12 2 Collin Cabre UTI/NTI Toyota 20.575 109.356 2 5 0.378
13 9 Enrique Baca * Nextgen Motorsports Ford 20.587 109.292 2 4 0.390
14 42 Jay Beasley CASTLE Toyota 20.755 108.408 2 4 0.558
15 36 Stafford Smith Stoney’s Rockin’ Country/Wahl Traction Chevrolet 20.785 108.251 2 3 0.588
16 71 Eddie MacDonald Aubuchon Hardware/Grimm Const. Chevrolet 20.799 108.178 3 6 0.602
17 13 Hunter Baize Reynolds Wrap Toyota 20.865 107.836 2 3 0.668
18 32 Ray Parent * www.AnytimeRealty.com Ford 20.937 107.465 4 4 0.740
19 34 Andrew Engberson * The Patriot Motorsports Group Chevrolet 21.023 107.026 3 4 0.826
20 38 John Wood The Patriot Motorsports/Lights Out Chevrolet 22.499 100.004 1 3 2.302
* Denotes Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate
Sources: Nicholas Teto, YankeeRacer.com
Qualifying Results from NASCAR Home Tracks