CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (March 1, 2016) – NASCAR Next driver Dylan Lupton confirmed today that he has paired with RSS Racing to compete in the next three NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) races beginning with Saturday’s Boyd Gaming 300 at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway.
The University of North Carolina (UNCC) Charlotte senior made the announcement live on SiriusXM Speedway with host Dave Moody on SiriusXM Satellite Radio earlier Tuesday.
Lupton will drive the No. 93 Chevrolet Camaro as a teammate to Ryan Sieg in the No. 39 Chevrolet Camaro this weekend at Las Vegas, next weekend at Phoenix (Ariz.) International Raceway and the following weekend at Auto Club (Calf.) Speedway.
A native of Wilton, California, Lupton is poised to make his ninth career XFINITY Series start and first since Kentucky Speedway last September. Last season, Lupton competed in eight races, delivering a top-10 finish in his road course debut at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. His ninth place effort is an XFINITY Series best for Athenian Motorsports, now a part-time team.
“I’m incredibly thankful for this opportunity to partner with RSS Racing,” said Lupton. “I met with the Sieg family on several occasions last year and we’ve been working ever since to partner for some races. Hopefully, we can do well on this three race stretch and do more this season.”
Reuniting with Lupton for the “West Coast Swing” is crew chief Mike Ford. A longtime industry veteran, Ford led the 22-year-old to several impressive outings last season in the No. 25 Chevrolet Camaro. In over 450 starts as crew chief in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Ford won 21 races, most recently in 2011 with driver Denny Hamlin.
“Having Mike (Ford) with us during this stretch should be very beneficial,” added Lupton. “Mike and I worked together last season, so we are very comfortable with each other and he knows what I’m looking for in a racecar. We know that performance is going to be important for these three races and I feel like with Mike’s addition, our chances are as good as any to meet our goals.”
The 22-year-old kicked off his 2016 racing season by competing in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards opener at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. Lupton drove the No. 82 Ford Fusion in a partnership between Empire Racing and Win-Tron Racing. Considered one of the pre-race favorites after turning fast laps during the test in January, Lupton was in contention for a top-10 finish before engine issues thwarted his charge late in the race.
Shifting his focus back to NASCAR, Lupton feels at home with the Sieg family and is eager to make most of the opportunity presented.
“The Sieg’s have been able to do a lot with the tools they have to work with and together, we want to showcase that they can do more with a two-car team. Together, we feel that this is a great opportunity and look forward to putting both cars in position for good, strong solid finish the next three weeks.”
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 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 will graduate in May with a bachelor’s degree in finance from UNCC Charlotte.
For more on Dylan Lupton follow him on Twitter @LuptonDylan or visit LuptonRacing.com.
