Jeff Purvis

Jeff Purvis
Born	(1959-02-19) February 19, 1959 (age 62) Clarksville, Tennessee
Achievements	1993, 1996 Daytona ARCA 200 winner 1995 Snowball Derby Winner
Awards	National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame (2001)
NASCAR Cup Series career
50 races run over 9 years
Best finish	39th (1993)
First race	1990 Hanes Activewear 500 (Martinsville)
Last race	2001 EA Sports 500 (Talladega)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 0 0
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
187 races run over 15 years
Best finish	6th (1999)
First race	1989 All Pro Auto Parts 300 (Charlotte)
Last race	2004 Goulds Pumps/ITT Industries 200 (Nazareth)
First win	1996 Hardee's Fried Chicken 250 (Richmond)
Last win	2002 O'Reilly 300 (Texas)
Wins Top tens Poles 4 57 6
Statistics current as of April 20, 2013.

Jeffery Purvis (born February 19, 1959) is a former race car driver in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. He is a 15-year veteran with four wins and 25 top-five finishes. He suffered a massive brain injury after a 2002 crash and has not run a NASCAR-sanctioned race since 2004. He currently races crate late models at .

Winston Cup Series career[]

Purvis made his NASCAR debut in 1990. He was hired to drive Bobby Allison's No. 12 Raybestos Buick at Martinsville Speedway. He started in 31st position for that race, but crashed out and finished 28th. After that, Purvis raced four more times in 1990 in the No. 51 Chevrolet owned by James Finch, who once owned his cars when he raced late model dirt races. His best finish among those was a 31st at North Wilkesboro. He also set his best start of 1990 there, 24th.

Purvis would run six races for Finch in 1991. His best start of that year was 22nd. He set his career best finish to that date at Atlanta. After starting 29th, Purvis completed many laps and finished in the 24th position. He only finished two races that season.

Once again, Purvis would race six times in 1992. He ran two races for Finch finishing 27th at Michigan and 36th at Phoenix. He ran four more races for the No. 12 Raybestos Brakes Chevy for Bobby Allison. His highlight was his career-best finish of 22nd at Richmond.

In 1993, Purvis ran the most races in a season for his career. Making eight starts, Purvis ran three races for Finch and five races for Morgan-McClure Motorsports in their No. 4 Eastman Kodak Chevy. At Talladega in July, Purvis was able to top his previous best start with a 21st, as well as enjoying the best runs of his career. He earned his best qualifying effort of 18th at Richmond and quickly followed it up with his career-best 16th-place finish. The next week, he broke his best finish again with a 13th-place finish at Dover and also added a 17th at Martinsville.

In 1994, Finch picked up sponsorship for the No. 51 from Country Time, and Purvis raced in the Chevy for six races, replacing original driver Neil Bonnett, who was killed in a practice accident for the Daytona 500. His best finish of the year came in his first start of 1994. At Atlanta, Purvis finished 21st. However, at Michigan, Purvis was able to break his best start record, with a 13th place start in the race. In the fall race at Michigan, Purvis made the race with 's No. 02 Ford. He started that race in 23rd and finished 28th.

Finch once again found sponsorship from for the renumbered No. 44 Chevy. Purvis raced six races again for Finch in 1995. They struggled, and the best finish for Finch and Purvis was a 29th at Talladega, though once again he set a personal best qualifying effort of 12th. In the fall Atlanta race, Purvis drove for Rick Hendrick and the No. 58 Leukemia Society Chevy at Atlanta, finishing 26th, his best finish of the year.

Despite only racing four races for Finch in 1996, the No. 44 MCA Records Chevy had their best season effort. In the 1996 Daytona 500, Purvis increased his best career finish to 12th place, where it stands today. He also earned two top-10 qualifying efforts in 1996, the better being his best career start of sixth at the Pepsi 400.

In 1997, with Purvis driving for himself in the Busch Series, he drove his No. 12 Chevy into three races. He mustered only a 37th, 38th and 39th in those efforts, but did start eighth for the fall race at Charlotte.

After a three-year absence from the elite division of NASCAR, Purvis returned for his final season in 2001. Purvis was able to make four races in the No. 51 owned by Finch, who bought Fords from Bill Elliott Racing. He started in the top-20 for three of the four races, but his best finish of the year was a 34th in the No. 51 Subway Ford at Talladega.

Busch Series career[]

While racing with Finch's Phoenix Racing many years in the Cup Series, Purvis also competed in the Busch Series for Finch.

In 1989, Purvis made his debut at Charlotte driving the No. 49 Phoenix Racing Buick. He made the field at 14th position. However, engine problems forced him to 40th place in the 42 car field, ending his debut.

In 1990, Phoenix Racing and Purvis once again teamed up, with Purvis driving the No. 15 Buick. In four races, he finished 26th twice (Bristol and Charlotte) and had a best qualifying effort of 22nd at Richmond. The next year, Purvis added four more races to his Busch career, driving Finch's No. 23 Buick. At Charlotte, he set his career best finish with a 17th-place. However, he did not finish in any of his four starts. For the third straight season, Purvis competed in four Busch events in 1992. At Talladega, he drove Finch's No. 51 to his first NASCAR top-10, a seventh place after a 27th place start. Then, Robert Yates Racing offered Purvis a ride in the No. 28 Texaco Ford for three races, finishing 12th, 20th, and 21st. Also, at Darlington, Purvis matched his career best qualifying effort of 14th.

Purvis ran two races in 1993, both with Morgan-McClure Motorsports, who he was also racing with in the Cup Series. He qualified in 11th and 7th the two races, the seventh at Atlanta being his career best. In 1994, Country Time Lemonade sponsored Finch and Purvis in the Busch Series in a four-race deal. At Talladega Superspeedway, Purvis and Finch collected their first career Busch Pole Award. Purvis ran up front all day, and finished in fifth position. However, that was the only race he finished, with his next best finish in 1994 being a 29th. However, he qualified fourth at Bristol and ninth at Richmond.

In 1995, Finch and Morgan-McClure decided to resurrect the No. 4 Kodak Busch Series car. Purvis would drive the car in nine races, the most starts in a season to date. Purvis had a career season, finishing ninth at Atlanta and Charlotte, 12th at Michigan, and then back at Charlotte, he set his career best finish of third. He also won the pole at Talladega once again, setting his sights on a full 1996.

In 1996, Purvis and Finch got a new sponsorship deal with MCA Records for five races in 1996. Even without sponsorship for the other 21 races, Purvis got a shot from Finch to do the whole 1996 schedule. Immediately, he won the pole for two of the first three races, at Daytona and Richmond. He finished third at Rockingham in the second race of the season. Then after winning the pole at Richmond, Purvis led 38 laps and shot by Joe Nemechek for his first career Busch Series win. Despite a disappointing mid-season, Purvis rebounded with a second-place finish at Myrtle Beach, sixth at Talladega, and a seventh at IRP. After the seventh at IRP, Purvis rolled on to Michigan, where, after blowing past a fading Mark Martin, he held off Terry Labonte for the second win of his career. By season's end, Purvis had seven top-10s in 26 starts, earning seventh place in the final standings. ≥ Purvis and Finch looked toward 1997 with high hopes, but Finch informed Purvis that the team could not run a full season without solid sponsorship. After running the first four races, and only a 9th at Daytona to show for it, Finch and Purvis parted. Purvis went and teamed with to drive the No. 28 Opryland Chevy for a handful of races. At Nashville Speedway USA, Purvis made his first start in the No. 28 and showed off with a 4th-place finish. Back at Myrtle Beach, Purvis started 2nd and finished 8th. Meanwhile, Finch was finalizing his deal to get Purvis back. At Homestead-Miami, Purvis debuted the No. 4 Lance Snacks Chevy, but finished 38th in the race. Despite only running ten races, the three top-10s allowed Purvis to finish 44th in points.

Lance Snacks was on board with Purvis and Finch for a full 1998, and the season started off well. Purvis started 4th, and finished 2nd at Daytona. He had 5 other top-5s, including the Milwaukee, where he started on the pole and finished 3rd. An incident at South Boston cost Purvis any chance of finishing in the top 10 in points. Mark Green and Purvis had been racing hard, making contact several times. After Green spun Purvis out, Purvis rammed Green's car on pit road. That forced him out of the race and out of 4 races due to suspension. Matt Hutter and Nathan Buttke took his place. Following his return, Purvis finished in the top 10 four straight times, allowing him to finish 15th in points despite missing 5 races.

In 1999, Purvis moved to Diamond Ridge Motorsports. He had two less top-5s than in 1998, but two more top-10s, as well as being able to run every race. A 3rd place at Talladega was his best finish of 1999, but the consistency allowed for Purvis to finish 6th in points, bettering his 1996 standing. Even with the solid 1999, Purvis's job was in jeopardy.

However, Joe Gibbs Racing merged with Diamond Ridge, and picked up the No. 4 team for 2000. They switched the car to Pontiacs and gained sponsor Porter-Cable after Lance left. Purvis finished 2nd three times at Milwaukee Mile, Gateway and IRP. He also finished 3rd at Talladega. However, Purvis's new team could not qualify at Charlotte and Darlington. Unfortunately, Purvis was injured at Myrtle Beach and could not race at Watkins Glen. Curtis Markham replaced him for that race. Despite not making 3 races, Purvis finished a respectable 11th in points, with 4 top-5s and 11 top-10s

In 2001, Gibbs decided to team Purvis up with Mike McLaughlin and Purvis would drive the No. 18 MBNA Pontiac. In 17 races with the team, Purvis managed a 2nd at Fontana and 4 other top-10s. After Milwaukee race, Purvis was running 7th in points. However, Mike McLaughlin's team had to fold and with two drivers and one spot open, Purvis was released from JGR. Purvis did not run in the next two races, but Richard Childress had his No. 21 Rockwell Automation Chevy open for most of the summer. After finishing 15th at Gateway, Purvis headed to Pikes Peak International Raceway. After starting 7th, Purvis dominated, leading half of the laps, and easily cruised to his 3rd career Busch Series win. It was his first win in nearly 5 years. Despite the win, Purvis only made one start with the team after that at IRP, and was sent searching for a win again. Purvis was able to gain the No. 59 Kingsford Chevrolet ride at ST Motorsports. He made three starts with the team, finishing 5th at Memphis and also had finishes of 14th and 17th.

End of career[]

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Brewco Motorsports hired Purvis to drive the #37 Timber Wolf Chevy in 2002. In twelve starts for the team, Purvis finished in the top-20 five times. During one of those races at Texas Motor Speedway, Jack Sprague had dominated all day. Some drivers left the race when it began raining, though Purvis continued. Four laps later, the rain stopped and Purvis won his 4th career win when the race could not restart.

Six races later, at Nazareth Speedway, Purvis was among the top-15 drivers, when he blew his engine and spun in his own oil on the backstraightaway. As Purvis' car came to a rest, Greg Biffle slid in Purvis's oil and struck his car causing Purvis to suffer severe head trauma.

Motorsports career results[]

NASCAR[]

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Winston Cup Series[]

NASCAR Winston Cup Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	NWCC	Pts	Ref
1990	Bobby Allison Motorsports	12	Buick	DAY	RCH	CAR	ATL	DAR	BRI	NWS	MAR 28	TAL	CLT	DOV	SON	POC	MCH	DAY	POC	TAL	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH															55th	238	[1]
	Phoenix Racing	51	Chevy																							DOV 33	MAR	NWS 31	CLT	CAR 38	PHO 36	ATL
1991			Olds	DAY 36	RCH	CAR 35	ATL 24	DAR	BRI	NWS DNQ	MAR	TAL 30	CLT	DOV	SON	POC	MCH DNQ	DAY 30	POC	TAL DNQ	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV DNQ	MAR	NWS												45th	399	[2]
			Chevy																										CLT DNQ	CAR	PHO 38	ATL
1992				DAY	CAR	RCH	ATL	DAR	BRI	NWS	MAR	TAL	CLT	DOV	SON	POC	MCH	DAY	POC	TAL	GLN	MCH 27	BRI	DAR							PHO 36	ATL								44th	453	[3]
	Bobby Allison Motorsports	12	Chevy																						RCH 22	DOV 32	MAR 26	NWS 32	CLT	CAR
1993	Phoenix Racing	51	Chevy	DAY DNQ	CAR	RCH	ATL	DAR	BRI	NWS	MAR	TAL 39	SON	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	DAY 23	NHA	POC	TAL 21	GLN	MCH	BRI																39th	774	[4]
	Morgan-McClure Motorsports	4	Chevy																						DAR 26	RCH 16	DOV 13	MAR 17	NWS 25	CLT	CAR	PHO	ATL
1994	Phoenix Racing	51	Chevy	DAY	CAR	RCH	ATL 21	DAR	BRI	NWS	MAR	TAL 35	SON	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH 27	DAY 38	NHA	POC	TAL 36	IND 34	GLN										PHO DNQ	ATL						46th	484	[5]
		02	Ford																					MCH 28	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT	CAR
1995	Phoenix Racing	44	Chevy	DAY 38	CAR	RCH	ATL 37	DAR	BRI			TAL 29	SON	CLT DNQ	DOV	POC	MCH 39	DAY 39	NHA	POC	TAL 42	IND DNQ	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT DNQ	CAR	PHO	ATL DNQ						47th	391	[6]
	Junior Johnson & Associates	27	Ford							NWS DNQ	MAR
	Hendrick Motorsports	58	Chevy																															ATL 26
1996	Phoenix Racing	44	Chevy	DAY 12	CAR	RCH	ATL	DAR	BRI	NWS	MAR	TAL 35	SON	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	DAY 21	NHA	POC	TAL 40	IND DNQ	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT	CAR	PHO	ATL						48th	328	[7]
1997		12	Chevy	DAY	CAR	RCH	ATL	DAR	TEX	BRI	MAR	SON	TAL	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	CAL	DAY	NHA	POC	IND 37	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR 38	RCH	NHA	DOV	MAR	CLT 39	TAL	CAR	PHO	ATL					57th	152	[8]
2001	Phoenix Racing	51	Ford	DAY 43	CAR	LVS	ATL	DAR	BRI	TEX	MAR	TAL 34	CAL	RCH	CLT	DOV	MCH	POC	SON	DAY 42	CHI	NHA	POC	IND	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	KAN	CLT	MAR	TAL 42	PHO	CAR	HOM	ATL	NHA	54th	169	[9]

Daytona 500[]

Year	Team	Manufacturer	Start	Finish
1991	Phoenix Racing	Oldsmobile	22	36
1993	Phoenix Racing	Chevrolet	DNQ
1995	Phoenix Racing	Chevrolet	34	38
1996			34	12
2001	Phoenix Racing	Ford	17	43

Busch Series[]

NASCAR Busch Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	NBSC	Pts	Ref
1989	Phoenix Racing	49	Buick	DAY	CAR	MAR	HCY	DAR	BRI	NZH	SBO		NSV	CLT	DOV	ROU	LVL	VOL	MYB	SBO	HCY		IRP		BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	CLT 40	CAR	MAR						96th	43	[10]
1990		15		DAY 26	RCH 36	CAR	MAR	HCY	DAR	BRI			NZH	HCY																								74th	170	[11]
			Chevy												CLT 35	DOV	ROU	VOL	MYB		NHA	SBO	DUB	IRP
			Olds																							BRI 26	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	CLT	NHA	CAR	MAR
1991		23	Buick	DAY	RCH	CAR	MAR	VOL	HCY	DAR	BRI			NZH	CLT	DOV	ROU	HCY	MYB	GLN		NHA	SBO	DUB	IRP		BRI 32	DAR 32	RCH									65th	304	[12]
		14	Buick																											DOV 35	CLT 17	NHA	CAR	MAR
1992	Phoenix Racing	51	Chevy	DAY	CAR	RCH	ATL	MAR	DAR	BRI	HCY		DUB	NZH	CLT	DOV	ROU	MYB	GLN	VOL	NHA	TAL 7	IRP															51st	476	[13]
		28	Ford																						MCH 12	NHA	BRI	DAR 21	RCH 20	DOV	CLT	MAR	CAR	HCY
1993	Phoenix Racing	51	Chevy	DAY DNQ	CAR	RCH	DAR	BRI	HCY	ROU	MAR	NZH	CLT	DOV	MYB	GLN	MLW	TAL	IRP	MCH	NHA	BRI	DAR															74th	164	[14]
		4	Chevy																					RCH 34	DOV	ROU	CLT	MAR	CAR	HCY	ATL 20
1994	Phoenix Racing	51	Chevy	DAY	CAR	RCH	ATL DNQ	MAR	DAR	HCY	BRI		NHA	NZH	CLT 29	DOV	MYB	GLN	MLW	SBO	TAL 5	HCY	IRP	MCH	BRI 32	DAR	RCH 30	DOV	CLT DNQ	MAR	CAR							58th	371	[15]
1995		4		DAY 9	CAR	RCH	ATL 12	NSV 35	DAR	BRI	HCY	NHA	NZH	CLT 9	DOV	MYB	GLN 36	MLW	TAL 31	SBO	IRP	MCH 12	BRI DNQ	DAR	RCH	DOV	CLT 3	CAR	HOM 14									38th	999	[16]
1996				DAY 23	CAR 3	RCH 1	ATL 29	NSV 34	DAR 30	BRI 14	HCY 16	NZH 13	CLT 22	DOV 16	SBO 25	MYB 2	GLN 25	MLW 37	NHA 20	TAL 6	IRP 7	MCH 1	BRI 14	DAR 23	RCH 6	DOV 37	CLT 13	CAR 32	HOM 25									7th	2894	[17]
1997				DAY 9	CAR 33	RCH 34	ATL 36	LVS	DAR	HCY	TEX	BRI																					HOM 38					44th	972	[18]
		28	Chevy										NSV 4	TAL	NHA	NZH	CLT 25	DOV	SBO 24	GLN	MLW	MYB 8	GTY	IRP	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH 13	DOV	CLT	CAL	CAR
1998	Phoenix Racing	4	Chevy	DAY 2	CAR 20	LVS 28	NSV 18	DAR 32	BRI 27	TEX 36	HCY	TAL 15	NHA 4	NZH 2	CLT 31	DOV 22	RCH 12	PPR 5	GLN 32	MLW 3	MYB 29	CAL 6	SBO 28	IRP	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH 6	DOV 7	CLT 9	GTY 3*	CAR 19	ATL 35	HOM 12				15th	3019	[19]
1999	Diamond Ridge Motorsports			DAY 41	CAR 12	LVS 12	ATL 41	DAR 13	TEX 19	NSV 6	BRI 42	TAL 3	CAL 19	NHA 3	RCH 9	NZH 6	CLT 17	DOV 25	SBO 4	GLN 36	MLW 15	MYB 10	PPR 5	GTY 20	IRP 6	MCH 10	BRI 14	DAR 8	RCH 8	DOV 25	CLT 13	CAR 40	MEM 27	PHO 13	HOM 25			6th	3658	[20]
2000	Joe Gibbs Racing		Pontiac	DAY 29	CAR 43	LVS 7	ATL 30	DAR DNQ	BRI 14	TEX 10	NSV 7	TAL 3	CAL 29	RCH 38	NHA 41	CLT DNQ	DOV 12	SBO 17	MYB 42	GLN	MLW 2	NZH 6	PPR 13	GTY 2	IRP 2	MCH 12	BRI 7	DAR 23	RCH 31	DOV 19	CLT 27	CAR 38	MEM 10	PHO 10	HOM 11			11th	3212	[21]
2001		18		DAY 28*	CAR 6	LVS 17	ATL 6	DAR 10	BRI 24	TEX 12	NSH 14	TAL 24	CAL 2	RCH 17	NHA 19	NZH 12	CLT 10	DOV 14	KEN 29	MLW 7	GLN	CHI																21st	2863	[22]
	Richard Childress Racing	21	Chevy																				GTY 15	PPR 1*	IRP 21	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	KAN	CLT
	ST Motorsports	59	Chevy																														MEM 5	PHO 17	CAR 14	HOM
2002	Brewco Motorsports	37	Pontiac	DAY 21							TAL 15																											39th	1309	[23]
			Chevy		CAR 18	LVS 23	DAR 30	BRI 27	TEX 1	NSH 13		CAL 24	RCH 11	NHA 13	NZH 28	CLT	DOV	NSH	KEN	MLW	DAY	CHI	GTY	PPR	IRP	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	KAN	CLT	MEM	ATL	CAR	PHO	HOM
2004	Phoenix Racing	1	Dodge	DAY	CAR	LVS	DAR	BRI	TEX	NSH	TAL	CAL	GTY	RCH	NZH 17	CLT	DOV	NSH	KEN	MLW	DAY	CHI	NHA	PPR	IRP	MCH	BRI	CAL	RCH	DOV	KAN	CLT	MEM	ATL	PHO	DAR	HOM	113th	112	[24]

ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series[]

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	ABSC	Pts	Ref
	Phoenix Racing	05	Buick	DAY									TAL 36			ISF	TOL	DSF											121st	-	[25]
		15	Olds	DAY			5				TOL																		81st	-	[26]
		5												TAL 2	MCH	ISF	TOL	DSF
		11	Buick	DAY	ATL			TOL			MCH					TAL		MCH	ISF	TOL	DSF	28							138th	-	[27]
	Phoenix Racing	5	Olds	DAY 32																									70th	-	[28]
		1					3	TOL			MCH								ISF		DSF			4
			Chevy	DAY 1*		25	9				TOL	6	MCH 1		2	KIL	ISF	DSF	TOL			1*							18th	1630	[29]
				DAY 29*	1*				TOL		1*		2	1*	KIL				ISF	DSF				34					23rd	1455	[30]
				DAY 40	ATL	3*				1						KIL					DSF								69th	-	[31]
				DAY 1															MCH				DSF						150th	-	[32]

Awards[]

He was inducted in the National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame in the inaugural 2001 class.^[33]

References[]

External links[]

• Jeff Purvis driver statistics at Racing-Reference

Achievements
Preceded by Tammy Jo Kirk	Snowball Derby Winner 1995	Succeeded by Rich Bickle