The excellent season continues for Spire Motorsports in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series as Chase Purdy scored the pole for Saturday night’s Heart of America 200 at Kansas Speedway by a slim margin of just 0.004 sec. over ThorSport Racing’s Ty Majeski.
RELATED: NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Heart of America 200 Starting Lineup
Purdy’s fast lap was a 30.728 sec. (175.735 mph). This is the third pole of Purdy’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career and his first of the 2024 season. This also marks the second-consecutive pole for the driver at the 1.5-mile speedway in Kansas City, as Purdy won the pole for the fall race at Kansas last year.
It’s been feast or famine for Purdy so far in 2024, as he scored his career-best finish of third at Martinsville Speedway a few weeks ago, but has also recorded four finishes outside of the top-20. Purdy is hoping the pole run on Saturday can spark his season.
“It’s huge, right? It’s been a kind of a struggle to start the season, but getting the pole today is great for our momentum,” Purdy said.
The driver has been licking his lips as he has seen Kansas Speedway draw closer and closer on the calendar due to the speed he had here last fall.
“This is a track that I’ve had circled for a while now, ever since we left here. Always pretty good here. Sat on the pole last time we were here. Same truck. So, this thing just likes Kansas, I guess,” Purdy quipped. “But I’m really proud of all of these guys at Spire Motorsports and Bama Buggies. We have a really fast Chevrolet Silverado.”
Purdy will look to score his first career NASCAR Truck Series win on Saturday night, but Majeski will be no pushover. Majeski led the way in NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series practice earlier in the day, and narrowly missed the pole position.
RELATED: NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Heart of America 200 Practice Results
Behind the front row starters of Purdy and Majeski Ty Dillon, who surprised with a lightning-fast lap time in his No. 25 Rackley W.A.R. Chevrolet Silverado. Dillon’s best starting position of the season, prior to Saturday’s incredible third-place qualifying run, was a 16th-place starting spot that he secured at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the third race of the season.
Rajah Caruth, who won that race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, will roll from the fourth starting spot on the grid in Saturday night’s Heart of America 200. Caruth is a teammate to Purdy at Spire Motorsports.
Connor Mosack, the driver of the third Spire Motorsports entry, will start from the fifth position on Saturday night.
Daniel Dye, Jake Garcia, Stewart Friesen, Zane Smith, and Christian Eckes rounded out the top-10 starters for Saturday’s race.
Three trucks were unable to post a qualifying lap in the session. Nick Sanchez, who won the season-opening race at Daytona International Speedway, was not permitted to take a lap in the session due to his truck failing pre-race inspection three times on Saturday morning. Sanchez will start from the 31st position on Saturday night.
Timm Hill and Mason Massey were the other two trucks that did not take a qualifying lap in the session and will start from 32nd and 33rd respectively.
With only 33 trucks vying for the possible 36 spots in the starting lineup, no trucks will go home this weekend.
Starting Lineup: NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Heart of America 200 at Kansas
