With Spire Motorsports acquiring Kyle Busch Motorsports after the 2023 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season, they were keen on retaining assets that include Chase Purdy. After driving the #4 for KBM, he will pilot Spire’s new #77 Chevrolet Silverado RST in 2024.
Purdy has been competing full-time in the Truck Series with 2021, spending each year with a different team starting at GMS Racing followed by Hattori Racing Enterprises and KBM. In his only season in the #4, he placed a career-best eleventh in points with eleven top-ten finishes, a best run of second at Texas, and two poles at Homestead and Talladega.
“Chase Purdy is really coming into his own as a driver and we think pairing him with a crew chief the calibre of Jason Trinchere will elevate his level of competitiveness immediately,” said Spire Motorsports president Doug Duchardt. “We put a lot of thought into putting Chase together with the right person and at the conclusion of that process, it was very clear that Jason is the person to lead the #77 team. This is a combination we expect to set a very high bar in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.”
Spire, primarily a Cup Series operation, already fields the #7 truck on a part-time basis since 2022. Nine drivers—Marco Andretti, Alex Bowman, Jonathan Davenport, Austin Hill, Derek Kraus, Carson Kvapil, Corey LaJoie, Kyle Larson, and Layne Riggs—drove the #7 in 2023, with Larson winning at North Wilkesboro. The truck will remain a multi-driver vehicle in 2024 with Busch expected to be one of the drivers.
The team opened the #77 for the 2023 season finale at Phoenix, where Kraus finished twenty-eighth.
“Seeing what they’ve done in the last few years and the drivers they’ve had come through, being in that system makes me excited for the future,” Purdy commented. “I’m more determined than ever. There are a few new people, Jason Trinchere, obviously being one of them, but, for the most part, we still have our same core group of guys so we’re looking to keep up that momentum from last year. I’m just really eager to get the new season started. I can’t wait to get to work.”