Track: Texas Motor Speedway, 1.5-mile oval
Race: 21 of 23
Event: SpeedyCash.com 400 (220.5 miles, 147 laps)
Schedule:
Sunday, Oct. 25
12:00 p.m…………..Race (FS1)
(all times ET)
Tanner Gray, No. 15 Ford Performance F-150
Tanner Gray is ready to put his bad luck behind him Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway in his No. 15 Ford Performance F-150 in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series race. Last weekend at Kansas, he could not avoid a truck that spun in front of him, ending his race early. The race before that at Talladega, he spun after hitting oil on the track. Gray was coming off two consecutive third-place finishes prior to his string of tough breaks.
Gray is hoping to get back to finishing in the top five Sunday at Texas. He did not get many laps in at the 1.5-mile intermediate track when the Truck Series raced there in July. At the start of the race he told his DGR-Crosley team the transmission was stuck in fourth gear. He was able to finish the first stage, but then went behind the wall for repairs for the remainder of the race.
In 20 Truck Series races to date this year, Gray has four top-five, seven top-10 finishes, has led four laps and sits 14th in the driver point standings. Of his four top-five finishes, three of them have been third-place finishes all within the last two months.
The SpeedyCash.com 400 from Texas Motor Speedway will be run on Sunday, Oct. 25 at 12 p.m. ET. The race will be broadcast live on FS1. The 147-lap race will be broken into three segments with stage-ending cautions on laps 35 and 70.
Gray on Texas: “It depends on what they do with the PJ1 this weekend, but it usually makes for pretty good racing at Texas. Last time we were there it made the top work better than what I expected to start the race. It’s one of the faster mile-and-a-half tracks that we go to. Turns one and two are a little bit more tricky, in a truck anyway, than three and four. One and two take a little more technique to get through, but three and four we’re pretty close to wide open on new tires. It should be a good race. I’m definitely looking forward to it and trying to get back to where we were a few races ago.”
Dylan Lupton, No. 17 Crosley Brands F-150
Dylan Lupton returns to DGR-Crosley for the second of his three-race NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series program this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway.
Lupton, a native of Wilton, Calif., invades Texas on the heels of a strong finish last weekend at Kansas Speedway in the ARCA Menards Series season finale. He started fifth in the Speediatrics 150 and after overcoming some handling issues early in the race, the NASCAR Next alumnus rebounded for a fourth-place finish. The effort was a career-best in two ARCA Menards Series starts. Kansas was his first time back in an ARCA car since Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway in 2016.
Lupton, 26, has two prior starts at Texas Motor Speedway, both coming in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. His most recent start in April 2018 earned him a respectable 17th-place finish.
In his first 2020 start for DGR-Crosley last month in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series, Lupton had a competitive showing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Starting deep in the field and without a lap of practice, he utilized the 134-lap race to pick up 20 positions from his 34th-place starting spot and finished a noteworthy 14th.
Lupton’s No. 17 Crosley Brands Ford F-150 this weekend will recognize Breast Cancer Awareness Month with a special pink ribbon on the truck for the 21st Truck Series race of the season.
Sunday’s race will mark Lupton’s 10th career Truck Series start, seven with DGR-Crosley.
The SpeedyCash.com 400 from Texas Motor Speedway will be run on Sunday, Oct. 25 at 12 p.m. ET. The race will be broadcast live on FS1. The 147-lap race will be broken into three segments with stage-ending cautions on laps 35 and 70.
Lupton on Texas: “I’ve been hungry to get back behind the wheel since our strong finish at Kansas Speedway last Friday. Hopefully, we can go to Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday and continue our good pace.
“The Truck Series fields are strong this year and that makes the races a lot more competitive, but the No. 17 DGR-Crosley team has been working hard to make sure we’re in a good spot for Sunday’s race. I like Texas. It doesn’t have a lot of room to race, but I feel we can go out there on Sunday and contend for a top-10 finish. We’ll be starting mid-pack based on the formula, so we’ll just have to follow the same formula we did at Las Vegas and hope for an even better outcome.”
