Photo: Chris Owens / Daylon Barr Photography
When the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series rolls off at Bristol Motor Speedway tomorrow, all eyes with rest on the eight drivers contesting this season’s playoffs. But peer beyond that, and another story will begin to unfold. Another group will be attempting to make the most of their limited remaining opportunities and build for 2020.
Such is the case for Dylan Lupton, who dares to dream of a full-season run next year after his current six-race stint with DGR-Crosley.
“This whole season is hopefully a warmup to going full-time next year,” Lupton told Motorsports Beat. “We’re working with a handful of individuals, and hopefully in talks shortly about going full-time. We just need to have the sponsorship backing, which we’re working on.
“Hopefully these six races turn into a full year.”
If Lupton’s camp can accomplish the feat, it’ll be a strong turnaround from the last year – and a reward for the Californian’s patience.
Lupton’s been a bit of a journeyman during his rise through the NASCAR ranks. A pair of full-time seasons in the K&N Pro Series West saw the young prospect secure two wins in 2013 and ’14, with the latter season ending just one position short of a championship.
In the ensuing years Lupton steadily built up his resume, running part-time in the Xfinity Series for a combined 35 starts in four seasons. He appeared due for a sizable schedule with JGL Racing in 2018 when a mixture of sponsorship woes and medical issues for owner James Whitener led the team to shutter operations in June.
With the team went Lupton’s ride, leaving the young star searching for a new opportunity at the halfway point of the season. He responded quickly, moving back to California and attempting to reset.
A few chances at a drive came about in the ensuing week, but none of them proved properly enticing. So Lupton did the only other thing he could do – sit out and wait for the right opportunity to come along.
“I had quite a few teams that we were in talks with, had some opportunities to get back into the seat for the remainder of 2018,” Lupton said. “But we really wanted to try to align ourselves with a team that I could go out and contend for wins with. I had to be patient.”
So patient he was. For months Lupton’s only track time came on the short tracks in late models, where he ran with the Spears SRL Southwest Tour. He watched as the NASCAR world rolled on for a full year without him, sitting through a period he admitted had “been a struggle.”
The right opportunity took a year to develop, but in the end Lupton’s patience was rewarded. An opening materialized at DGR-Crosley, a rising team in Toyota’s camp that was inching closer to victory lane.
Previous attempts from the two camps had failed to yield a deal, but this time Lupton was happy to join the group.
“I’ve hung out with DGR-Crosley in the past at a few races,” he said. “We tried to put deals together in 2017 and 2018, but it just wasn’t the right timing.
“I’ve been able to watch them grow as a team. They’ve won championships in the K&N Series, and it seems like each year they’re getting better in the Truck Series. That was a huge factor in my decision. With them getting Toyota support, and more knowledgeable personnel each year, I think they’re a rapidly growing team – and one of the top Toyota teams in the garage.”
Lupton wasn’t sure what would come of the decision. He had only two previous Truck Series starts, and they’d come three years earlier. The 25-year-old’s main experience had come at the Xfinity level, so he knew he would be in for a challenge with the aero-dependent trucks.
“I knew that I could get in there and mix it up with the best of them,” he said. “But I went in there humble, knowing that I was in for a big learning curve. I had to learn the aero, and how it plays an effect on these trucks.
“Everything is so exaggerated aero-wise compared to an Xfinity car. That took time to learn, how to manipulate the air in traffic.”
Despite the learning curve, it took little time for Lupton’s decision to pay off. His first start with DGR-Crosley came at Chicagoland Speedway in June, and he claimed that he “felt like I was back at home” after opening practice at Chicagoland Speedway.
That initial race yielded his first NASCAR national series top-10 in nearly three years.
Two weeks later he rejoined the team for a run at Kentucky Speedway. Teammate Tyler Ankrum stole the show that night, claiming a surprise victory that would ultimately place himself and DGR-Crosley’s No. 17 team in the playoffs. But just behind Ankrum came another breakthrough. Lupton had finished fifth, earning his first national series top-five.
The results hadn’t blown away his expectations. But they served as a much-needed boost after such a lengthy stay away from the track, and a reminder that he could be a contender under the right circumstances.
“It just kind of justifies my thinking that I could run with the best of them,” Lupton said of his results. “I feel like I could go out and win races, and Kentucky and Chicago showed that. We had the speed to win, now we just have to execute a little better.”
With four races left in his brief 2019 run with DGR, Lupton hopes to continue to learn and impress. He believes a trip to victory lane is within reach, and wants to be a consistent contender.
“I expect us to go run inside of the top-10 in these next four races,” he said. “I think if we can stay within the top-10 and contend for some wins, it would be a huge feat for myself and the DGR team.”
But beyond the four races, Lupton has hopes to contend for his first championship. Despite being in NASCAR’s top three levels for four years, the opportunity to contest a full season has eluded Lupton thus far.
He’d like a chance to change that next year, and would love for the opportunity to come with his current team.
“It’s been great working with the DGR-Crosley group,” Lupton said. “I would love nothing more than to be able to go full-time with them.
“I haven’t been able to go full-time in one of NASCAR’s top three series ever, so being able to go do that and be in the seat week-in and week-out would be awesome.”
