Truck Series driver Chase Purdy plans Ole Miss paint scheme for Talladega race

Sep. 30—Former Ole Miss student Chase Purdy will drive a truck painted in the blue-and-red school colors of his alma mater Saturday at the Chevy Silverado 250.

Purdy attended Ole Miss before joining NASCAR's Truck Series full-time in 2020. He is from Meridian, Miss., and he finished ninth at last year's Truck race at Talladega Superspeedway, which was his second-best finish of the season.

On Wednesday afternoon, Purdy returned to the Ole Miss campus to display the No. 61 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro inside Vaught Hemingway Stadium. He met with Ole Miss players and head coach Lane Kiffin.

"This is such a cool intersection for me to have Ole Miss on our Toyota Tundra TRD Pro and race it at the track closest to my hometown," he said. "We had a great time on campus earlier this week with taking the truck to Vaught Hemingway Stadium and seeing so many people at Ole Miss, including Coach Kiffin.

"That was really cool to see so many people excited for the race this weekend. Hopefully we can deliver a good run for them and Talladega is a place that can be a huge opportunity for anyone in the field. We feel good about the speed we'll have in our Toyota Tundra TRD Pro to be in the mix. We just need to manage our afternoon the right way and just make it to the end to have a shot at it."

Saturday will mark his 50th start in the Truck Series. He doesn't have a win but he has finished in the top 10 four times, including sixth at Gateway in Madison, Ill., last year.

Senior Editor Mark Edwards: 256-235-3570. On Twitter: @MarkSportsStar.