Fresh off a top-12 finish in his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) debut this past weekend at Talladega Superspeedway for Young’s Motorsports, NASCAR Next alumnus Dylan Lupton (@LuptonDylan) confirmed today that he will make his third career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) start in Sunday afternoon’s Goody’s Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway driving for BK Racing.
In June, Lupton successfully made his Cup Series debut at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway in a third BK Racing entry. Last month, the Californian returned to the tour for his Richmond International Raceway debut where he earned a career-best 25th place run.
“I’m looking forward to getting back into a Sprint Cup car this weekend at Martinsville,” said Lupton, driver of the No. 83 E.J. Wade Construction Toyota Camry. “Short track racing is what I grew up doing – so I’m hoping I can utilize that experience and showcase my skills when it counts most. I’m focused on doing a good job delivering a solid finish to both my team and sponsor Sunday afternoon.”
The Goody’s Fast Relief 500 marks the seventh three-car effort this season for BK Racing joining teammates Matt DiBenedetto and David Ragan. Like Lupton, DiBenedetto will also be backed by E.J. Wade Construction.
E.J. Wade Construction is a Class A Contractor and a VDOT Prequalified Contractor that has highly trained professionals who have their tradesman licenses in electrical, plumbing, HVAC and gas fitting tradesman licenses.
E.J. Wade Construction is a company that believes in quality, reliability, friendliness, and putting the concerns of the client first.
“We are excited to expand our relationship with Ron Devine, Doug Fritz and everyone at BK Racing by adding another E.J. Wade sponsored race to the schedule,” said Jeff Wade President of E.J. Wade Construction. “All of us here at E.J. Wade Construction can’t wait to watch Matt and Dylan race at Martinsville.”
Although Lupton doesn’t have any prior experience at the tight 0.526-mile paperclip oval, the 22-year-old driver will be able to lean on veteran crew chief Mike Ford who returns to BK Racing to lead the No. 83 team in Sunday afternoon’s race. Ford has over 20 starts at Martinsville which includes three wins with Chase contender Denny Hamlin.
“I don’t have any experience at Martinsville, but Mike does – so I’ll be leaning on him a lot,” added Lupton. “It will be important for me to take advantage of practice on Friday to make sure that we can get a good baseline for qualifying and then use the practice sessions on Saturday to focus on race setup.
“I plan to do a lot of watching and talking this weekend at Martinsville – bouncing ideas off Mike, my teammates and others hoping it will pay off for 500 laps on Sunday. It will be the longest race of my racing career, but I feel like I’ve taken the right steps to be healthy and focused behind the wheel. I can’t thank Ron (Devine, team owner) enough again for this opportunity.”
After finishing second in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West championship in 2014, Lupton advanced to the NASCAR XFINITY Series in 2015 in a partial schedule with Athenian Motorsports. Additionally, Lupton has been elected twice to the NASCAR Next program. An evolution of the Next9 initiative that began in 2011, the NASCAR Next program (2014-2015 and 2015-2016) 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.
In particular, Lupton has been an advocate for the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) project where he has spent time informing students about the fundamentals of NASCAR and how each subject applies.
Lupton graduated this past May with a bachelor’s degree in Business Finance from UNC Charlotte.
For more on Dylan Lupton follow him on Twitter @LuptonDylan or visit his Facebook page.
The Goody’s Fast Relief 500 is set for Sunday, Oct. 30 live on NBC Sports Network (NBCSN), the Motor Racing Network (MRN) and SiriusXM Satellite Radio Channel 90 beginning at 1:00 p.m. ET.
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