Spire Motorsports will field the Nos. 7, 71 and 77 Chevrolet Silverados full time in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series (NCTS). An all-star driver lineup will rotate throughout the 2024 season in the No. 7 Chevy. Rajah Caruth will drive the No. 71 entry and Chase Purdy rounds out the team’s fleet of Chevrolets in the No. 77.
The Fresh from Florida 250 from Daytona International Speedway will be televised live on FS1 Friday, Feb. 16, beginning at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. The first of 23 NCTS races on the 2024 schedule will be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
Chase Purdy – Driver, No.77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado
Chase Purdy will make his third NCTS start at Daytona International Speedway in Friday’s Fresh from Florida 250. The Meridian, Miss., native was named the full-time driver of Spire Motorsports No. 77 Chevrolet Silverado earlier this year and will compete for NCTS Championship honors.
In two previous NCTS starts at the World Center of Racing, Purdy has averaged a seventh-place starting position and a 23rd-place average finish. Bama Buggies makes its 2024 debut with Spire Motorsports as the primary sponsor on Purdy’s No. 77 Chevrolet Silverado.
Purdy has led one lap at Daytona and 22 total laps on superspeedways.
Purdy has completed 170 of 180 total laps in Daytona NCTS competition, completing 94.4 percent of the laps contested over those two starts.
The 2024 season marks Chase Purdy’s third full season in the NCTS. The Fresh from Florida 250 will mark Purdy’s first start for Spire Motorsports after spending last season at the wheel for Kyle Busch Motorsports.
Since becoming a Chevrolet driver in 2023, Purdy has notched two top-10 finishes and one pole at Superspeedway races. Purdy is looking to carry his late-season momentum from 2023 into the 2024 campaign.
Purdy made significant forward progress in 2023 but still seeks his first career NCTS win. He made a significant jump from his 2022 efforts by qualifying for all 23 events, earning two poles and logging an average starting position of 10.7. Purdy also earned a total of three top fives, 11 top 10s and a 14.6 average finish.
Chase Purdy Quotes:
How are you feeling about the new transition from KBM to Spire? Working with new team members, crew chiefs, resources.
“It’s a new transition but it’s also not in some ways. It’s really nice to work with a lot of the same people as last year so it’s nice to have that comfortability of knowing that you’ve worked with a lot of people and work off of the relationships that you already have. But it’s also really great to be working with new people. Everyone so far has been really great, and I’ve already started building relationships with them. I’m just excited to get the year started and get down to Daytona Friday.”
After all of the momentum you’ve built in 2023, especially at speedways, how are you feeling in terms of momentum for another year of forward progress?
I think 2024 is going to be a great year. I’m excited to build on what we did at the back half of last year and starting out strong with Spire in 2024. You know, we’ve had some, some really good stuff and a lot of speed at speedways. Daytona, ya know, that’s a really good racetrack for me personally, and also our team. I’m excited to go to every racetrack this season. I think the schedule that NASCAR has put out for the trucks this year is really kind of built around my wheelhouse and, what I like, so I’m excited to get started.
What would it mean to get your first career win this season, especially at a place as historic as Daytona?
I think that it would be really special for me, at a track with that much history and you know that’s like the Super Bowl for us right so, to get my first win at the biggest most famous race track there would be very special to me. I think any one would be special to me but one there would be, you know, certainly one to never forget.
Jason Trinchere – Crew Chief, No. 77 Chevrolet Silverado
Jason Trinchere earned his Bachelor of Science from Penn State University and began his professional career in 2005 as the race engineer for the iconic No. 75 Spears Manufacturing NCTS team, owned by series’ pioneers Wayne and Connie Spears.
Notable accomplishments include Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400 wins with both Ganassi Racing and Penske Racing. He was a key member of the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series Championship team with driver Joey Logano.
He comes to Spire Motorsports from Kaulig Racing where he began as an engineer before being promoted to crew chief in 2021, ultimately serving in that capacity for all three of the organization’s NXS teams.
About Spire Motorsports …
Spire Motorsports is a NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race team co-owned by long-time NASCAR industry executives Jeff Dickerson and Thaddeus “T.J.” Puchyr. In 2024, Spire Motorsports will campaign the Nos. 7, 71 and 77 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1s in the NASCAR Cup Series with drivers Corey LaJoie, Zane Smith and Carson Hocevar, respectively. The team will also field the Nos. 7, 71 and 77 Chevrolet Silverados full time in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series. An all-star driver lineup will rotate throughout the 2024 season in the No. 7 Chevy. Rajah Caruth will drive the No. 71 entry and Chase Purdy rounds out the team’s fleet of Chevrolets in the No. 77.
Spire Motorsports earned its inaugural NASCAR Cup Series victory in its first full season of competition when Justin Haley took the checkered flag in the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway on July 7, 2019. Less than three years later, William Byron drove Spire Motorsports’ No. 7 Chevrolet Silverado to its inaugural NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series win on April 7, 2022, at Martinsville Speedway. The team’s most recent win came on May 20, 2023, when Kyle Larson took the checkered flag in the Tyson 250 at North Wilkesboro Speedway.
TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!
