Story by Speed51.com
Every now and then, you will see a driver compete in multiple races in multiple states during the same weekend. However, it is not normally seen in a Modified, and it is not normally done at tracks nearly 1,000 miles apart.
Columbus, Ohio’s Kyle Purvis will begin this weekend by traveling south to Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida for Friday’s Modifieds of Mayhem Tour race. From there, he will make the 945-mile trip north to Flat Rock Speedway just outside of Detroit, Michigan for the I-CAR All-Star Modified season opener on Sunday.
Purvis has competed in the Modified race at the Snowball Derby over the past few years, with a best finish of second in last December’s event to show for it. After being close in the Modified portion of the Derby each of the past couple years, the itch to win at the half-mile oval has him making the long journey south to Friday night’s Modifieds of Mayhem race.
“We were looking at the schedule and I’ve never been to a race at Five Flags other than the Derby weekend,” Purvis told Speed51.com. “We kind of started looking at what races to run. My dad thought I was crazy but I was like I want to run and go do it. I haven’t been able to get a win at Five Flags and it’s one I want to check off. We’ve been really close to winning the Modified portion of the Derby the last few years and I just want to race there a little bit more and try to win the Derby one of these years.”
Purvis’s race weekend will start early to make the trip south to Florida. While down there, he has enlisted help from a former ARCA/CRA Super Series champion turned Pensacola resident to get the car ready to head back north.
“We’re leaving tomorrow morning to travel to Pensacola,” he said. “We already have the car set up for that. After we get done racing Friday night, we’re going to my buddy Derrick Griffin’s place and switch the car over. The rules in the south are slightly different than the rules up north. He’s a good friend of mine and he’s going to help us switch it over and get it set up for the north. Then, the plan is to leave Saturday morning to start heading back to Michigan.”
Purvis is the defending I-CAR All-Star Modified champion, having won five of the series’ 10 races in 2018. With the new All-Star Modified season starting Sunday afternoon at a track that has not hosted a Modifed race in over a decade, he is looking to use this weekend as a momentum boost toward a second series title.
“Last year, we had a really good year, won some big races,” Purvis said. “We won at Bristol and won at Lucas Oil Raceway, so getting another new track under our belt, hopefully we can go to Flat Rock this weekend and compete well.”
Purvis is looking to add trophies to the case from both tracks during the busy weekend. Between the hard work put into the car and the many miles that will be travelled, being able to win both races in a single weekend would mean a lot to him.
“It would be awesome just to win both of them,” Purvis said. “Like I said, my dad thinks we’re crazy, but he knew we wanted to do it so we got ready to go run both of them. Hopefully we can do well at both of them.”
Race fans unable to make the trip south to Pensacola with Purvis will be able to watch him race via a live video stream on the Speed51 Network. Those who aren’t already subscribed to the Speed51 Network can purchase a premium membership today for $9.99 a month of $79.99 a year.
Speed51 will also have at-track coverage and video highlights from Sunday’s event at Flat Rock Speedway.
-Story by: Koty Geyer, Speed51.com State Editor (IN & MI)
