Purvis Wins O’Reilly 300

Timber Wolf Gets First Busch Series Victory

Fort Worth, TX (April 6, 2002) …Jeff Purvis gave Timber Wolf their first career NASCAR Busch Series victory with a rain-shortened win in the O’Reilly 300 at the Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday afternoon. It was a race filled with drama as rain postponed the start of the scheduled 200-lap, 300-mile race for almost four hours. Then, race strategy and key pit stops played a major role in the first victory for Timber Wolf and parent company Swedish Match North America in NASCAR.

“I’ll take it any way I can get it,” Purvis commented in the post-race press conference. “I prayed for the rain myself.” Purvis took the lead during a caution period on lap 111 and led the final six laps before NASCAR called the race due to heavy rain. Therefore, Purvis won the O’Reilly 300 leading only once for six laps, all under caution.

The Clarksville, Tennessee driver qualified 13^th with a speed of 190.712 mph on Thursday afternoon as forty-seven cars attempted to make the starting grid for the O’Reilly 300. Ironically, Purvis would post the 13^th-fastest speed in Busch Series “happy hour” on Friday.

Purvis quickly moved from his 13th starting position to the top ten by lap ten. By lap twenty, Purvis had moved to eighth and reported to Crew Chief Terry Shirley that his Timber Wolf Chevrolet was “a little tight off, but pretty good.”

NASCAR waved the caution flag on lap 42 so that each team could pit and check for tire wear. Purvis would enter the pits running ninth, but quick work by the Timber Wolf crew gained him three positions for the restart on lap 46.

A lengthy caution would follow on lap 47 for a multi-car wreck in turn two. After twenty caution laps, racing would resume on lap 67 with Purvis in the fifth position. Within fifteen laps, Purvis would report that his car was once again “tight from the center of the turns off”. Purvis would drop several positions during the next few laps as Bobby Hamilton Jr., Jason Keller, Randy Lajoie, and Matt Kenseth passed the Timber Wolf Chevrolet.

The final caution of the race would wave on lap 108 when rookie Kasey Kahne spun off turn four. Purvis was running ninth when he entered the pits for service. Crew Chief Terry Shirley called for a two-tire stop with one can of fuel to, hopefully, gain some track position.

Shirley’s call put Purvis into second place as Mike Wallace elected not to pit and the other leaders decided to change four tires during this caution period. With rain showers reported near the 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway, Shirley “rolled the dice” to put his driver up front. However, when NASCAR called "one to go", Mike Wallace came to pit road for tires and fuel, placing Purvis in the lead on lap 111. When the rain gradually became heavier, NASCAR waved the red flag and brought the field down pit road. Within minutes, NASCAR called the race with the #37 Timber Wolf Chevrolet leading the pack.   

“The Timber Wolf team deserves this race,” Purvis added. “Terry (Crew Chief Shirley) made a great call for two tires. I wasn’t going to argue with him.”

“We took a chance and started doing our rain dance,” Shirley commented. “Sometimes you have to take a chance and this time it worked in our favor. It feels great!”

The victory was the fourth for Purvis in the NASCAR Busch Series and his first since last July at Pikes Peak (CO) International Raceway. The win also gained Purvis seven positions in the overall Busch Series points to 15^th after six races. Purvis trails 10^th-place Johnny Sauter by only 74 points.

“This Timber Wolf Race Team got off to a tough start this year with several promising runs cut short for various reasons,” Purvis concluded. “I knew that this was a team capable of winning races, and, today they showed it. The guys had an awesome pit stop that gained me three positions on our first stop, and the call for two tires and gas on the final stop put us on top. This is a team victory if there’s ever been one. I’m so happy for Timber Wolf getting their first NASCAR victory with Brewco Motorsports. Now, it’s on to Nashville to go for ‘two in a row’.”

The next race on the Busch Series schedule is the Pepsi 300 at the Nashville Superspeedway on Saturday, April 13^th. Qualifying will be held on Friday, April 12^th at noon with the green flag set for 4 p.m. ET on Saturday. The FX network will televise the 225-lap, 300-mile event with MRN providing the radio coverage. With Jeff Purvis from nearby Clarksville, Tennessee, look for a warm reception from his fans when the Timber Wolf Team rolls into Nashville next weekend.