Dylan Lupton, No. 25 Zaxby's Chevrolet Camaro, Owens Corning AttiCat 300 Preview

Dylan Lupton, No. 25 Zaxby's Chevrolet Camaro, Owens Corning AttiCat 300 Preview

Topics: Dylan Lupton, Owens Corning AttiCat 300

Dylan Lupton, No. 25 Zaxby's Chevrolet Camaro, Owens Corning AttiCat 300 Preview

Chris Knight
Knight Motorsports Management
June 17, 2015

Dylan Lupton, No. 25 Zaxby’s Chevrolet Camaro, Owens Corning AttiCat 300 Fast Facts

NASCAR XFINITY Series Race No. 14, Owens Corning AttiCat 300, Chicagoland Speedway, Joliet, Illinois

Race Information: Event: Owens Corning AttiCat 300, Saturday, June 20 at 8:30 p.m. Local Time Track: Chicagoland Speedway Qualifying: Saturday, June 20 at 4:15 p.m. Local Time Track Length: 1.5-mile paved oval.

Welcome To The Big Leagues Round 3: After monstrous success in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West (KNPSW), Dylan Lupton will make his third NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) start Friday night at Chicagoland Speedway. Lupton will drive the No. 25 Zaxby’s Chevrolet Camaro for Concord, North Carolina-based Athenian Motorsports.

Richmond Recap: In April, Lupton made his second NASCAR XFINITY Series start at the 0.875-mile paved oval. After adapting to “America’s Premier Short Track” in practice, Lupton qualified 22nd and finished 28th completing 246 of the 250 laps. While the finish wasn’t what the rookie driver had hoped for, the goal to see the checkered flag was achieved.

XFINITY Debut: Lupton made his NASCAR XFINITY Series debut at Phoenix (Ariz.) International Raceway in March for the Axalta Faster. Tougher. Brighter. 200. With prior experience at the 1.0-mile track in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West Series, Lupton arrived at the track highly optimistic. Lupton had a solid showing, qualifying 23rd and finishing a respectable and competitive 19th.

Summer Vacation: While juggling a profession behind the wheel, Lupton just completed his junior year of college at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNCC) where he is pursuing a business degree. Lupton has maintained a grade point average (GPA) of 3.11 throughout his tenure. He’ll return for his senior year in the fall.

Keeping The Skills Sharp: While not behind the wheel of the No. 25 Zaxby’s Chevrolet Camaro, Lupton has competed in several Late Model events back at home in California. In addition to racing, Lupton has spent time with his family, while also began working on his 2016 racing season which he hopes includes a full-time NASCAR XFINITY Series schedule.

Member Of Elite Class: In May, Lupton was announced as one of 12 drivers in the NASCAR Next program. The 2015-2016 class marks the second year that Lupton has been a part of the program. NASCAR Next, an evolution of the Next9 initiative that began in 2011, is an all-embracing industry initiative to help spotlight the sport’s rising stars – and boost fan recognition around talent that will grow into NASCAR Sprint Cup Series mainstays.

Look What I’ve Done: For the past two seasons (2013 and 2014), Lupton has competed in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West Series driving for Sunrise Ford Racing. In the two years driving the No. 9 Ford Fusion, Lupton notched two wins, 13 top-fives and 26 top-10s in 29 races. After finishing fifth in points in 2013, Lupton battled Greg Pursley for the championship last year, but fell short and finished second.

#PayItForward With Lupton: In an effort to bring NASCAR fans closer to the inside, Lupton is determined this summer to use social media to his advantage to offer Lupton Racing swag, which will include FREE race tickets to upcoming NASCAR XFINITY Series races, as well as official Athenian Motorsports gear. Lupton will also offer chances to earn garage passes to select races as part of his initiative to give back through his creative version of #PayItForward.

XFINITY Schedule Set: In addition to Phoenix, Richmond and Chicagoland, the two-time NASCAR K&N Pro Series West winner is also scheduled to appear in the No. 25 Zaxby’s Chevrolet Camaro in at least four other races, including: Iowa Speedway (August), Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Road America (Wisc.) and Kentucky Speedway (September).

Additional sponsorship could add additional races to his platter in his freshman season of XFINITY competition.

It’s Not Just Fast Food, Its Zaxby’s: Zaxby’s will plaster its colors on the No. 25 Chevrolet Camaro this weekend at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway. Zaxby’s is the primary sponsor for Lupton’s Athenian Motorsports teammate John Wes Townley.

An alternative to fast food, Zaxby’s offers its guests prepared-at-order Chicken Fingerz, Traditional or Boneless Wings, sandwiches, Zalads and Zappetizers, along with a variety of nine sauces ranging from Wimpy and Tongue Torch to Nuclear and Insane. Childhood friends Zach McLeroy and Tony Townley hatched the Athens, Ga.-based chain in 1990 to provide a fun, relaxing atmosphere that would keep guests coming back for more. The company ranked number seven in the 2012 Top 10 Excellent Large Fast-Food Chains With 500 or More U.S. Units Quick-Track study published by Sandelman & Associates.

The chain also ranked number five in the nation for total sales and number one in the chicken segment in the 2012 Top 150 Fast-Casual Chain Restaurant Report published by Technomic. In honor of the thousands of children the restaurant chain serves every year, Zaxby’s is a proud supporter of Make-A-Wish. The company operates more than 595 locations in 13 states, including Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.

Chassis Intel: Veteran crew chief Mike Ford has elected to bring Athenian Motorsports chassis number 05 to the 1.5-mile track this weekend. This Chevrolet Camaro is appearing in its second race with Athenian Motorsports. This race chassis last competed in the NASCAR XFINITY Series event this spring at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway with John Wes Townley. The team will utilize chassis number 10 as its backup, which last ran at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway last month.

Athenian Motorsports, Chicagoland Speedway Pre-Race Quotes: Dylan Lupton, driver of the No. 25 Zaxby’s Chevrolet Camaro:

On His Most Recent NASCAR XFINITY Series Race At Richmond (Va.) International Raceway: “We were disappointed with the finish, but we learned a lot. We made improvements start to finish, so while the result wasn’t exactly what we had in mind, I learned a lot about the car, the track and the team and that’s all positive. Richmond is a tough track, but we’ll be better the next time we go there.”

On Building Relationship With Athenian Motorsports: “I’ve spent some time this week at the Athenian Motorsports shop and the guys are relentless. The team has been producing some great on-track results on both the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series side as well as the XFINITY side, so it’s my job to go out there on Saturday and keep the team pointed forward.”

On Being A Returning Member Of NASCAR Next Program: “I’m very honored to be a returning member of the NASCAR Next program. The NASCAR Next program has taught me a lot as I continue my journey to the top of the sport. I’ve embraced every opportunity that the program has offered and it’s really been influential in my quest to learn the ins and outs of the sport.”

On Outlook For Chicagoland Speedway: “Chicagoland Speedway will be my first mile and a half track. It’s a major step forward in my NASCAR career. I’m not worried though, because I have a great team who prepare strong cars standing behind me. It’s not going to be easy, but I think I’ll adapt quickly and we make some serious gains from practice to the start of the race.”

On Goals At Chicagoland Speedway: “Honestly, I think we would all be disappointed if we left the track with less than a top-15 finish. The ECR (Earnhardt-Childress Racing) motor have been flawless this season. I plan to stay focused and if we can get some breaks to fall our way, we should be in a good spot come the checkered flag on Saturday night. The biggest thing we’ll need to make sure we do is keep up with our handling from dusk to nightfall.”

PRIOR RESULTS:

Dylan Lupton, Chicagoland Speedway Prior NXS Performance Record:

Dylan Lupton will make third NASCAR XFINITY Series start this weekend at Chicagoland Speedway, no prior starts.

The Owens Corning AttiCat 300 (150 laps / 300 miles) is the 14 of 34 events on the 2015 NASCAR XFINITY Series schedule. The first practice session of the weekend begins on Friday, June 19 from 2:30 p.m. to 3:55 p.m. A final practice session has been etched in closer to race conditions later in the day from 6:00 p.m. – 6:55 p.m. Qualifying is set for race day, Saturday, June 20 scheduled to lift off at 4:15 p.m. The 40-car starting field will take the green flag shortly after 8:30 p.m. with live coverage on FOX Sports 1, the Motor Racing Network (Radio) and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Satellite Radio, Channel 90. All times are local.

Fast Links:

Driver: Dylan Lupton on Twitter @LuptonDylan or visit LuptonRacing.com or on Facebook.

Team: Follow Athenian Motorsports on Twitter @AthenianMotors.

Marketing Partner: Zaxby’s: Zaxbys.com.

Sanction: NASCAR XFINITY Series: NASCAR.com.

About Zaxby’s Racing:

Zaxby’s has been a fixture in NASCAR since 2007 with driver John Wes Townley. In July 2014, Zaxby’s joined forces with Athenian Motorsports. AMS will operate out of a new, state-of-the-art, 43,000 square foot facility in Concord, N.C. in 2015. The team will carry the Zaxby’s colors as it fields full-time entries in the NASCAR XFINITY Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

About Zaxby’s:

An alternative to fast food, Zaxby’s offers its guests prepared-at-order Chicken Fingerz, Traditional or Boneless Wings, sandwiches, Zalads and Zappetizers, along with a variety of nine sauces ranging from Wimpy and Tongue Torch to Nuclear and Insane. Childhood friends Zach McLeroy and Tony Townley hatched the Athens, Ga.-based chain in 1990 to provide a fun, relaxing atmosphere that would keep guests coming back for more. The company ranked number seven in the 2012 Top 10 Excellent Large Fast-Food Chains With 500 or More U.S. Units Quick-Track study published by Sandelman & Associates.

The chain also ranked number five in the nation for total sales and number one in the chicken segment in the 2012 Top 150 Fast-Casual Chain Restaurant Report published by Technomic. In honor of the thousands of children the restaurant chain serves every year, Zaxby’s is a proud supporter of Make-A-Wish. The company operates more than 595 locations in 13 states, including Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.

PHOTO CREDIT: Dylan Lupton, driver of the No. 25 Zaxby’s Chevrolet Camaro in the NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) for Athenian Motorsports. (Photo Credit: Grace Wyant Krenrich for Lupton Racing).

PHOTO CREDIT II: NASCAR Next member Dylan Lupton, driver of the No. 25 Zaxby’s Chevrolet Camaro in the NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) for Athenian Motorsports.

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