COLUMBUS, Ind. – Fourteen-year-old Daison Pursley will become the latest in a list of young drivers to take the next step in his racing career when he joins Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports for the upcoming season.
Pursley, the reigning NOW600 Series Winged A-Class national champion, will compete in roughly 40 POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League events for KKM this season, making the step up from micro sprints to midgets and joining the Toyota Racing Development ladder system.
The Locust Grove, Okla., young gun joins Jesse Love and Holley Hollan as the third teenager to join team owner Keith Kunz’s program in the last month.
“About three years ago, we were racing at Wichita Falls, Texas, during my first year in micro sprints … and we saw his team across the pit area and how great of an organization they run,” Pursley noted. “I knew then that when I got older, it was a team that would be really cool to drive for. I’m really excited to be a part of KKM and I can’t want to start learning from Keith, Pete (Willoughby) and all the crew guys.”
“It’s exciting for us to have Daison join our team; he did come up to me a few years ago and said, ‘I want to drive for you some day,’ and then reminded me of that at the Chili Bowl recently,” noted Kunz. “I haven’t seen much of his racing just yet, but I know he’s hungry and he’s very eager to learn. He’ll be a great addition to our team and we’re looking forward to helping develop his talents behind the wheel.”
Pursley was a force in NOW600 Series action this season, winning the Winged A-Class title on the strength of three wins, 14 top-five and 20 top-10 finishes in 23 starts. He edged out Jim Woods by a scant two points in the final tally.
The Oklahoma teenager also finished second in the national standings for the Stock Non-Wing class, but noted he’s looking forward to making the jump into a midget next year.
“I was really fortunate to have a great run last year in the NOW600 Series, but I’m super excited to get into the bigger cars next season as well,” Pursley said. “It’s going to be about adapting. The midgets have a lot more horsepower underneath them, and without the wing like we have in the micro … that will be another change that I have to get used to. I want to go fast, though, for sure.”
Pursley’s goal for the upcoming year is simple in its approach: learn as much as possible and get accustomed to the high power of the national midgets, compared to the micros he’s been used to.
If he can snag a race victory during the year, that’s just icing on the cake.
“My goal is to go after the POWRi Rookie of the Year Award, and I feel like I’ll be able to get comfortable because we get a lot of track time with the way the POWRi schedule is set up. We’ll be learning a lot early, but I believe before the year is over, we’ll be able to race up towards the front.”
“This is a dream come true for me,” Pursley added. “I’m so grateful for this opportunity and can’t wait to get started.”
