Dylan Lupton waited for the right opportunity to get back to competition in NASCAR and his wait was over this weekend as he climbed behind the wheel of the No. 24 Nut Up Toyota. The Wilton, California native was impressive as he finished with a 12th place finish in the running of the ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond International Raceway.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better result for my debut with JGL Racing,” stated Lupton. “We struggled a bit in qualifying, however we knew our car was going to be good on long runs. Throughout the day, Clinton Cram (crew chief) made great calls on top of the box to put us in contention for a good finish. I can’t thank JGL Racing enough for giving me the opportunity to drive the No. 24 Toyota and I can’t wait to get back behind the wheel at Dover. I also want to thank Nut Up Industries for partnering with us for the 2017 season and all their support this weekend in Richmond. I look forward to our continued relationship throughout the year. We definitely had one of the best-looking cars out there!”
Dylan would start the 250-lap event from the 28th position as a result of his qualifying effort earlier Saturday morning. Early on Lupton would take his time and take care of his No. 24 Nut Up Toyota as he battled a little loose handling condition. The long runs seemed to suit him more than others and at the end of the first stage Dylan would find himself sitting in the 18th position.
The second stage presented a challenge as the No. 24 Nut Up Toyota didn’t respond well to the new set of tires. Clinton Cram and the JGL Racing jumped into action and utilized a key pit stop under caution on lap 116 to get another set of tires on as well as some necessary adjustments. The new tires and adjustments were just what was needed and Lupton would finish the second stage just sitting outside the top-20.
The last 100 laps of the race saw Lupton impress as he would turn some of the fastest laps on the track and continue to pick up valuable positions to the field. Despite suffering some damage to the No. 24 Nut Up Toyota in an on-track incident late in the race, Dylan continued his charge forward and came across in the 12th position when the checkered flag flew.
“That sure was a lot of fun out there today,” added Dylan. “Everyone worked hard and we just seemed to click right from the beginning. I look forward to returning to the seat of the No. 24 Nut Up Toyota soon and actually getting to run it more consistently. But in all, not sure we could have asked for a much better debut with JGL Racing and Nut Up.”
The JGL Racing team will next head to Talladega Superspeedway for the running of the Spark Energy 300. The ninth race of the NASCAR XFINITY Series season will be Saturday May 6th and can be seen LIVE on FOX at 1:00 pm ET.
It can also be heard on Motor Racing Network (MRN) and SiriusXM Channel 90.
JGL Racing PR
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