NASCAR Next Dylan Lupton's Bully Hill Vineyards 125 K&N East WGI Preview

NASCAR Next Dylan Lupton's Bully Hill Vineyards 125 K&N East WGI Preview

Topics: Dylan Lupton, Bully Hill Vineyards 125

NASCAR Next Dylan Lupton's Bully Hill Vineyards 125 K&N East WGI Preview

Chris Knight
Knight Motorsports Management
August 6, 2015

Dylan Lupton, No. 55 @LuptonDylan / Jefferson-Pitts Racing Ford Fusion, Bully Hill Vineyards 125 Fast Facts

NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Race No. 10, Bully Hill Vineyards 125, Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International, Watkins Glen, New York

Race Information: Event: Bully Hill Vineyards 125, Friday, August 7 at 6:15 p.m. Local Time Track: Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International Qualifying: Friday, August 7 at 2:40 p.m. Local Time Track Length: 2.45-mile road course

K&N Pro Series East Debut On Deck: NASCAR Next member Dylan Lupton has 32 NASCAR K&N Pro Series West (NKNPW) starts to his credit, but he’ll make his NASCAR K&N Pro Series East (NKNPSE) debut Friday afternoon for Jefferson-Pitts Racing.

Worlds Collide: While they were fierce competitors on the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West tour in 2013 and 2014, Lupton has paired with Dione and Jeff Jefferson along with partner Jerry Pitts for his Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International. The partners purchased the team assets of last year’s K&N Pro Series West champion Greg Pursley.

Career-Best: Lupton enters Friday afternoon’s Bully Hill Vineyards 125 on the heels of his career-best finish in the NASCAR XFINTIY Series last weekend at Iowa Speedway. A botched qualifying run left Lupton with a 26th-place starting position, but he didn’t stay there long.

Throughout the race, Lupton proved he had a top-10 car, but track position and a late-race tangle with another driver tried to thwart Lupton’s night. Luckily, the XFINITY Series rookie persevered and rebounded from two laps down to a lead lap and career-best 17th place finish in the U.S. Cellular 250. The finish overhauls Lupton’s previous best of 19th in his series’ debut at Phoenix (Ariz.) International Raceway in March.

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.

Chassis Intel: Veteran crew chief Jeff Jefferson has elected to bring Jefferson-Pitts Racing chassis number 001 to the 2.45-mile road course this weekend. This chassis served as a back-up automobile for 2014 NASCAR K&N Pro Series West champion Greg Pursely on the road courses last season and has not been raced.

Watkins Glen International Fast Fact: Watkins Glen International was established on the streets of Watkins Glen, New York, in 1948 when law student Cameron Argetsinger dreamed of bringing European style competition to the village where he spent his summer vacations. He drew up a challenging course that encompassed asphalt, cement and dirt roads in and around the village of Watkins Glen. It has hosted a total of 16 K&N Pro Series East events since 1993 and its current short course configuration is 2.454-miles.

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 aggressively 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.

XFINITY Schedule Set: In addition to Phoenix, Richmond, Chicagoland, New Hampshire Motor Speedway and Iowa Speedway, the two-time NASCAR K&N Pro Series West winner is also scheduled to appear in Athenian Motorsports’ No. 25 Zaxby’s Chevrolet Camaro in at least three other races, including: 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.

Come Say Hi!: Lupton and the rest of the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East drivers will participate in an autograph session at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International on Friday, August 7 from 1:00 p.m. – 1:45 p.m.

Jefferson-Pitts Racing, Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International Pre-Race Quotes: Dylan Lupton, driver of the No. 55 @LuptonDylan / Jefferson-Pitts Racing Ford Fusion:

On NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Debut: “I’m overwhelmed to be making my NASCAR K&N Pro Series East start this weekend at Watkins Glen. When I competed on the west tour, I was used to seeing a lot of the east drivers come over and compete, now I’m a former west driver coming to compete on the east side. It’s a cool feeling and something that’s now checked off the bucket list.”

On Last Saturday’s XFINITY Series Career-Best: “I can still look back at Iowa Speedway and still smile large. It was a great race for Athenian Motorsports. We had a good car. We knew it from the moment we unloaded. We struggled a little bit with the balance, but made great strides by qualifying. Unfortunately, we were slowed by lapped traffic and never could turn the lap we wanted.

“We found ourselves a lap down late in the race and were working hard to get it back when we were spun by another car. From there we were two laps down and we’re going to try and salvage what we could. Luckily, we still had a fast No. 25 Zaxby’s Chevrolet Camaro and were able to use a few things to our advantage to put us back on the lead lap and earn a career-best at the end of the night. I’m looking forward to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course next weekend.”

On Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International: “I’ll be honest, I don’t know much about the track, other from what I’ve studied and laps turned with iRacing. Watkins Glen has often been described as a semi-technical track with a lot of speed. I can see that for sure. I’m looking forward to getting our No. 55 @LuptonDylan / Jefferson-Pitts Racing Ford Fusion on track Friday and seeing what we can accomplish.”

On Goals For Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International: “We’re using this race to help get me in a rhythm for road course racing next weekend in the XFINITY Series. Traditionally, I’ve been very strong on the road course and I love turning left and rights. I’d be very disappointed if we weren’t able to finish inside the top-10 on Friday afternoon. That would be a great boost to our team.”

PRIOR RESULTS:

Dylan Lupton Watkins Glen International K&N Series Prior Performance Record:

No prior NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race starts at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International.

The Bully Hill Vineyards 125 (51 Laps / 125.124 Miles) is the 10th of 14 races on the 2015 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East schedule. Practice begins for the one-day show on Friday, August 7 from 8:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. A final practice session has been etched in a short time later from 10:00 a.m – 11:00 a.m. Qualifying is set for later in the day at 2:40 p.m. The event will take the green flag just after 6:15 p.m. The event will not be televised live, but will be tape-delayed on NBC Sports Network on Thursday, August 13 at 2:30 p.m.

Fast Links:

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

Sanction: NASCAR K&N Pro Series East: NASCARHomeTracks.com.

PHOTO CAPTION: Dylan Lupton, driver of the No. 55 @LuptonDylan / Jefferson-Pitts Racing Ford Fusion for Jefferson-Pitts Racing (JPR) in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East.