Dylan Lupton Optimistic Despite Frustrating Finish at Road America

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In: Xfinity Series News
Dylan Lupton had circled the three road course events on his schedule as good opportunities for him to shine in his No. 24 Nut Up Toyota.  Needless to say, those three races have been challenges for the Wilton, California native as he capped off the road course events with a frustrating 33rd place finish in the running of the Johnsonville 180 at Road America.
 
“It has been a bit frustrating but our JGL Racing crew will keep working hard,” said Lupton. “We had good speed once again this week but the finish definitely doesn’t reflect that.  We got behind on track position and then we got into some trouble on the track and we damaged the left front of our No. 24 Nut Up Toyota a little.  We still had decent speed after that but just couldn’t get the break we needed to gain back the track position and then on the last lap we ran out of fuel.”
 
Dylan would start the 45-lap event from the 23rd position as a result of qualifying being cancelled and the starting line-up being determined by the current owner’s points.  In the opening laps, Lupton would report that his No. 24 Nut Up Toyota was struggling through the braking zones.  The JGL Racing crew would try a little different road course strategy than the leaders, and would pit under caution on lap six.  As the first 10 lap stage would come to completion, Dylan would be sitting in the 23rd position.
 
With his No. 24 Nut Up Toyota seemingly improved, Lupton would pick his way through the field and hold down the 15th spot at the end of the second stage.
 
The remaining 25 laps of the Johnsonville 180 would remain caution free which would provide for various pit strategies being implemented.  Lupton would be racing inside the top-20 when disaster struck on lap 25. 
 
While in some tight racing, Dylan would receive damage to the left front of his No. 24 Nut Up Toyota which would require a trip down pit road under green flag conditions for repairs.  The loss of valuable track position could never be overcome with no cautions and then it was all capped off when Lupton’s machine ran out of fuel on the last lap.
 
“As much as I was looking forward to these three road course events – they are behind us now and it is time to turn our focus to the remaining races on our schedule,” added Dylan. “Everyone on this No. 24 Nut Up crew continues to work hard and I am optimistic we will keep the speed we have each week and collect some of the finishes we are missing out on.”
 
Lupton and his JGL Racing team will next head to Darlington Raceway for the running of the Sport Clips Haircuts VFW 200.  The 24th race of the NASCAR XFINITY Series season will be Saturday September 2nd and can be seen LIVE on NBC Sports Network at 3:30 pm ET. It can also be heard on Motor Racing Network (MRN) and SiriusXM Channel 90.
 
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