Solid Performance From NASCAR Next’s Lupton Yields Strong Finish At Road America

Solid Performance From NASCAR Next’s Lupton Yields Strong Finish At Road America

Topics: Road America 180, Dylan Lupton

Solid Performance From NASCAR Next’s Lupton Yields Strong Finish At Road America

Chris Knight
Knight Motorsports Management
August 31, 2015

NASCAR XFINITY Series, Sixth Annual Road America 180 Fired Up by Johnsonville
Event No. 23, Road America (Wisc.), Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin
Athenian Motorsports Race Report
Saturday, August 29, 2015

In his third NASCAR XFINITY Series race during the month of August, NASCAR Next driver Dylan Lupton produced another solid and noteworthy performance in Saturday’s Road America 180 Fired Up by Johnsonville at Road America (Wisc.)

Lupton’s second career road course race on the XFINITY Series tour didn’t come without its hiccups, but the effort from Lupton behind the wheel and the strong effort from the Athenian Motorsports team yielded his second-best effort in his limited season at the helm of the No. 25 Zaxby’s Chevrolet Camaro.

The first practice Friday afternoon at the 4.05-mile road course allowed the Wilton, California native to adapt to the longest road course on the schedule, full of unique turns and fast speeds. While some teams elected focused on qualifying runs, Lupton and crew chief Mike Ford chose to work on the handling of their car, in addition to getting their driver most accustomed to the track.

With threatening skies moving in, many teams felt the second XFINITY Series practice would be a complete wash, however, the steady mist at Road America proved to nothing more than just a pester for the 40 XFINITY Series teams.

Focusing on race runs early, Lupton posted his fastest lap of the weekend in his mock qualifying run, but during his second lap in time trials trim, the brakes locked up on the No. 25 Zaxby’s Chevrolet Camaro leaving Lupton a passenger at that point and into the tire barriers in Turn 5.

Lupton drove back to pit road where heavy left side damage ended the team’s practice session. Immediately, the Athenian Motorsports deemed the car repairable.

Arriving at the track a half-hour before the garage was originally scheduled to open Saturday afternoon, Ford and the team made the final repairs to Lupton’s car – looking good as new in time for qualifying.

Unfortunately, inclement weather forced NASCAR officials to cancel qualifying and set the lineup by first practice speeds, which placed Lupton 25th on the grid, the same as his car number.

During the Road America 180, Lupton quickly showcased his road course skills, quickly moving into the top-20 by the end of Lap 1 when the first caution flag fell.

When racing resumed, the 21-year-old continued his march through the field and easily found himself inside the top-15 approaching Lap 10.

Green flag pit stops came two laps later, with Lupton making his trip down pit lane while being scored seventh.

After pit stops cycled through Lupton found himself still comfortably inside the top-15.

The second flag of the afternoon waved on Lap 22 with Ford electing to bring his young protégé down on pit road for routine service.

Even with the second pit stop, Ford informed the Californian that he was still two laps shy on fuel.

Despite being short on fuel, Lupton raced hard until the final caution waved on Lap 35.

To be better safe than sorry, Ford brought Lupton back to pit road for tires and a splash of gas. Ready to unleash his driver for what the team though would be an eight lap shootout would prove to backfire.

An array of on-track issues, including cars stalling and fluid on the track would erase four pivotal laps from the leaderboard under caution, setting up for a four-lap shootout for Lupton who was scored in 22nd.

Back to racing, Lupton hustled and fought through the field and took the checkered flag 13th, collecting his fourth top-20 performance of the season.

It was Lupton’s second best run in six NASCAR XFINITY Series races. It also was the second best effort the Concord, North Carolina-based Athenian Motorsports in XFINITY Series competition, only beaten by Lupton’s ninth place effort at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on Aug. 15.

Paul Menard won the Road America 180 Fired Up by Johnsonville, followed by Ryan Blaney, Brian Scott, Chase Elliott and Darrell Wallace Jr. to round out the top-five. Boris Said, Justin Marks, Regan Smith, Chris Buescher and Ty Dillon comprised the remainder of the top-10.

John Wes Townley will return to the No. 25 Zaxby’s Chevrolet Camaro this Saturday afternoon, Sep. 5 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway for the VFW Sport Clips Help A Hero 200. The 200-lap event will be televised live on NBC Sports Network, the Motor Racing Network (MRN) and Sirius XM Satellite Radio Channel 90.

DYLAN LUPTON, NO. 25 ZAXBY’S CHEVROLET CAMARO ROAD AMERICA BOXSCORE:

Team: Athenian Motorsports

Starting Position: 25th

Finishing Position: 13th

Laps Completed: 75 / 75

Status: Running

Driver’s Rating: 72.3

Owner’s Point Standings: 22nd

POST RACE QUOTE:

“Our weekend didn’t start off the way we hoped. We laid down a pretty good lap in the second practice during our qualifying run and our second time around, the brakes locked up and I went straight towards the tire barrier. I was absolutely gutted for the team. They had already worked hard on the car up until then, so I hate I made more work for them.

“We were really hoping we could qualify, because we knew if we got rained out, we would start deep in the pack and it would be hard to make the climb through the field.

“Still, we took the starting spot in stride and I was determined to make up our deficit. Our car wasn’t the greatest during the first couple runs, but we kept working on it during the pit stops and when we took the green flag for the final run, the car was at its best.

“We were rolling through the field and just ran out of laps. We were a little bit free in the drive in and through the center. That was our biggest problem of the day. But, we finally got it fixed there at the end when it counted, but just needed a couple more laps to get another top-10.

All things considered, though, we’ll take 13th. I can’t thank Mike (Ford) and the team for their efforts this weekend. I’m looking forward to Kentucky Speedway in a couple weeks.”

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. (Photo Credit: Dennis Michelson for Lupton Racing).

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