NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Toyota / Save Mart 350
Event No. 16, Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway, Sonoma, California
First Practice Notes And Quotes
Friday, June 24, 2016
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series held their first practice session of the day at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway for Sunday’s Toyota / Save Mart 350. Dylan Lupton, a graduate of the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West (NKNPSW) will attempt to make his Cup Series debut on Sunday driving the No. 93 Bell Bros / Elk Grove Toyota Camry.
Lupton is attempting his third NASCAR race of the season after competing in back-to-back NASCAR XFINITY Series events earlier this season at Phoenix (Ariz.) International Raceway and Auto Club (Calif.) Speedway respectively. For his Cup debut, Lupton, a native of Wilton, California has paired with his XFINITY Series crew chief Mike Ford who led Lupton to a ninth place finish at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course last year. The finish was a career-best for Lupton and his Athenian Motorsports team in XFINITY Series competition.
The recent UNC Charlotte graduate has two NASCAR K&N Pro Series West (NKSW) races at the 1.99-mile 10-turn venue driving for Bob Bruncati, Lupton has a best finish of third, while also producing a respectable eighth place finish after a late race charge from the back of the field in his track debut in 2013.
The 22-year-old was the fourth fastest of five cars that must qualify on-time to make the starting gridSunday afternoon.
Lupton must beat at least one of the following cars on Saturday morning during qualifying to make his Sprint Cup debut: Ryan Blaney (No. 21), Cody Ware (No. 55), Cole Whitt (No. 98) or Josh Wise (No. 30).
DYLAN LUPTON, NO. 93 BELL BROS / ELK GROVE TOYOTA CAMRY
Team: BK Racing
78.76790.952
Practice Time: 78.767 seconds at 90.952 miles per hour
Practice Position: 39th
Fastest Lap: Seventh
Number of Laps Completed: 25
“It was important for us during this first practice session for me to get comfortable in the No. 93 Bell Bros. / Elk Grove Toyota Camry at Sonoma.
“I just needed to feel the car out, get some laps under my belt and we can now begin to make some changes for the final Sprint Cup Series practice that can put us in position to qualify on Saturday morning. The car is a little too tight, but I’ll talk to Mike (Ford, crew chief) and we’ll make some good adjustments that hopefully will make us faster for final practice here in a couple hours.”
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.
The Toyota / Save Mart 350 (110 laps) is the 16 of 36 events on the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule. The second and final practice session has been etched in from 3:30 p.m. – 4:55 p.m. Qualifying is set for Saturday, June 25 scheduled to lift off at 11:15 a.m. The 40-car starting field will take the green flag shortly after 3:00 p.m. with live coverage on FOX Sports 1 (FS1), the Performance Racing Network (Radio) and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Satellite Radio, Channel 90. All times are local.
Fast Links:
Driver: Dylan Lupton on Twitter @LuptonDylan or visit LuptonRacing.com.
Team: Follow Athenian Motorsports on Twitter @BKRacing_2383
Marketing Partner: Bell Bros Plumbing, Heating And Cooling: BellBrosHVAC.com
Marketing Partner: Elk Grove Toyota: ElkGroveToyota.com
Sanction: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: NASCAR.com.
About Bell Brothers Plumbing Heating and Air:
Bell Brothers Plumbing Heating and Air was founded in 1991 in Elk Grove, Calif by brothers Jerry and Kenny Bell. After 25 years in the business, Bell Brothers has expanded to not only specialize in heating and air services, but windows, plumbing, ductwork, insulation and solar.
With over $2,000,000 in Home Energy Upgrade rebates earned for their customers, Bell Brothers has established themselves the leader in California’s Home Energy Upgrade Program for utility companies SMUD and PG&E.
Today, there are 137 trucks on the road and over 230 employees daily serving the greater Sacramento area and parts of seven surrounding counties. It comes to no surprise that Bell Brothers delivers 365 days of Satisfaction to all their customers by providing the highest install standards, the best trained technicians and year-round service.
Bell Brothers guarantees that you’ll love your service or your money back, that’s what makes them the “No Surprise Guys!” For more information, please visit BellBrosHVAC.com.
About Elk Grove Toyota:
Elk Grove Toyota is one of the top new Toyota sales leaders in the U.S.A. They are the only dealership in California to ever be awarded “The Official Sponsor of Savings®” title. Elk Grove Toyota offers customers “Proof Pricing®” on every vehicle, their lowest price – Simple. Clear. True.
The dealership has also been awarded Toyota’s highest honor, “The President’s Award”, for superior performance in sales, leasing, service, parts and customer satisfaction. Elk Grove Toyota is located at 9640 West Stockton Blvd., in the Elk Grove Auto Mall. Please contact them at 916.405.8000 or learn more online at ElkGroveToyota.com. The dealership is open 7-days a week for sales, leasing and service.
