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Dylan Lupton NASCAR XFINITY Series Lakes Region FINAL Practice Report

Topics:  Dylan Lupton, Lakes Region 200

Dylan Lupton NASCAR XFINITY Series Lakes Region FINAL Practice Report

Chris Knight
Knight Motorsports Management
July 17, 2015

NASCAR XFINITY Series, 26th Annual Lakes Region 200
Event No. 17, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Loudon, New Hampshire
FINAL Practice Notes And Quotes
Friday, July 17, 2015

In their final practice session before NASCAR XFINITY Series qualifying Saturday morning at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (NHMS), Dylan Lupton, a graduate of the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West worked hard to improve the handling of the No. 25 Zaxby’s Chevrolet Camaro.

During the brief first practice session Friday afternoon, Lupton struggled to find the balance, especially in the center of the corner, where a tight condition hindered the Californian from getting back on the throttle upon exit.

In “happy hour,” the final practice session before qualifying, Lupton faced the opposite of the results of first practice. During the session, Lupton’s No. 25 Athenian Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro was loose, which prevented him from driving further into the corner as he would have liked.

Lupton, a graduate of the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West will make his fourth XFINITY Series start driving the No. 25 Zaxby’s Chevrolet Camaro for Athenian Motorsports.

The UNCC-Charlotte student made his most recent start at Chicagoland Speedway making his intermediate track debut in a ride he shares with teammate John Wes Townley. In April, he made his second series start at Richmond (Va.) International Speedway. In March, the Wilton, California native made his XFINIY debut at Phoenix (Ariz.) International, finishing 19th after starting 23rd.

The 21-year-old is a member of the NASCAR Next program has no prior NASCAR experience at the 1.058-mile paved oval and will make his third short track start in the 17th race of the 2015 season.

DYLAN LUPTON, NO. 25 ZAXBY’S CHEVROLET CAMARO

Team: Athenian Motorsports

Practice Time: 29.979 seconds or 127.049 miles per hour.

Practice Position: 16th

Fastest Lap: 65th

Number of Laps Completed: 65

Qualifying Draw: 37 / 40

First Practice Time: 30.726 seconds at 123.960 MPH (25th Quickest)

“We picked up a lot from the first session. We made a qualifying run there at the end, the car was loose though.”

“In the first practice we were tight in the center of the corner, which hurt us with our drive off (the corner). But, with our No. 25 Zaxby’s Chevrolet being so loose now, I just can’t drive it deep (into the corner) at all. We’ll make some changes before qualifying tomorrow.

“I’m really appreciative of the opportunity to race for Athenian Motorsports this weekend at New Hampshire. This place is really unique, I haven’t really been able to pinpoint it to anything I’ve ever run before. I’m struggling in Turns 3 and 4, but I’ll watch Sprint Cup qualifying and the K&N East race and see if I can’t learn something that will help for the race.

“I want to redeem myself from the misfortune we had at Chicagoland. A top-15 finish would be a huge step for me as in my NASCAR XFINITY Series career and none of this would have been possible without Tony (Townley), John Wes (Townley), Mike (Ford, crew chief) and the entire Athenian team.”

The Lakes Region 200 (200 laps / 211.6 miles) is the 17 of 34 events on the 2015 NASCAR XFINITY Series schedule. Qualifying is set for race day, Saturday, July 18 scheduled to lift off at 11:15 a.m. The 40-car starting field will take the green flag shortly after 4:00 p.m. with live coverage on NBC Sports Network (NBCSN), the Performance 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.

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.

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