Chase Purdy will chase 2021 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Rookie of the Year honours and a title. On Friday, GMS Racing announced the Alabama native will run full-time in the series.
After finishing fourth in the 2018 ARCA Menards Series standings, Purdy began running a part-time Truck schedule for GMS in 2020; it was his first action in the series since a two-race slate for the now-defunct MDM Motorsports in 2018. In seven races driving GMS’s #24 Chevrolet Silverado, his best finish was tenth at the second Kansas race in July.
“I am very excited to be back full-time racing again, especially with a strong organization like GMS Racing,” Purdy stated. “I am ready to get to work with this team and start preparing for 2021. I am already counting down the days until we leave for Daytona.”
Purdy, who just turned 21 on Wednesday, reunites with former MDM team-mates Sheldon Creed and Zane Smith at GMS. The trio ran the full 2018 ARCA schedule together, with Creed and Smith finishing 1–2 in the standings; incidentally, they also wrapped up the 2020 Truck season in the same positions. Creed’s crew chief Jeff Stankiewicz also worked with Purdy during his two Truck starts in 2018. The three will be joined by Tyler Ankrum, who enters his second season with GMS.
“We are happy to have Chase back and this time for a full-season,” GMS president Mike Beam said. “He will be a great addition to our powerhouse team for 2021. Sheldon, Zane and Tyler will be great mentors for him to learn off of. I can’t wait to see how he learns and grows as a driver this coming season.”
The news comes a day after Brett Moffitt, who finished third in the Truck standings, announced he would depart GMS and move up to the Xfinity Series. While Purdy’s 2021 number was not immediately revealed, it is perhaps obvious that he is Moffitt’s successor in the #23 team as GMS remains a four-driver effort. The team’s #24 truck will likely remain as a multi-driver operation; Purdy was one of seven drivers to pilot the #24 in 2020.