After more than a year and a half away from the racetrack, Chase Purdy is back behind the wheel.

The 2018 Lamar School graduate will make his season debut in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series on Saturday at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. He’ll be driving the No. 24 Bama Buggies Silverado.

“We’re up there with a lot of good guys, there’s a lot more competition in this series,” Purdy said. “There are 15-20 trucks that could easily win tomorrow, and I think I’m just excited to see how things play out and see where I fall in line having not been in the car in a year and a half.” 

His appearance comes after an 18-month hiatus that he took to enroll at Ole Miss while he awaited his future in stock car racing. Earlier this month, he signed a deal with GMS Racing for five events this season. He’ll also compete at Kansas City Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway later this year.

Purdy, 20, last raced in December 2018 when he won the Snowflake 100 at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida. He made his NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series career debut earlier that year, finishing 21st at Martinsville Speedway and 13th at Phoenix Raceway. He also collected 10 top five finishes racing full time in the ARCA Menards Series that same year.

“I think he’s going to do surprisingly well,” Dr. Charlie Purdy, Chase’s father, said. “He’s a competitive person, he’s a very aggressive racer, he doesn’t like to lose and once he gets the first couple of laps around he’s going to feel confident in what he’s doing and he’ll go for it.”

The Pocono Organics 150 to benefit Farm Aid starts at 11:30 a.m. Saturday and will be broadcast on FS1.