NASCAR Next alumnus Dylan Lupton will make his first start in the Camping World Truck Series this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway.
Lupton, 22, will drive the No. 02 Young’s Motorsports / Breast Cancer Awareness Chevrolet in the Fred’s 250.
Lupton, a native of Wilton, California, will be the fourth driver to compete in all three national NASCAR series this season, joining Kyle Busch, Kyle Larson and Clint Bowyer.
“This is a great opportunity at Talladega,” said Lupton in a press release. “I’m extremely appreciative to Tyler (Young), (crew chief) Andrew (Abbott) and the entire Young’s Motorsports team for giving me this opportunity. Obviously, Talladega is a crapshoot, but we’re focused on going down there and giving it all. I’m hoping we can find ourselves in a good position to have a good finish when the race is all said and done.”
Lupton has made two Sprint Cup starts, driving for BK Racing at Sonoma Raceway and Richmond International Raceway. His best finish was 25th at Richmond.
Saturday’s race will be Lupton’s first NASCAR start on a restrictor-plate track. He ran in the ARCA Racing Series’ season opener at Daytona and finished 24th.
“I’m glad I have some drafting experience, even though I expect the truck to be a lot different than the ARCA car,” Lupton said. “I’ve talked to Tyler and some of my other friends that race trucks and they’ve told me what to expect this weekend. I know these trucks tend to bounce around a lot in the draft and that the closure rate is extremely quick. I think it’s going to be a blast out there, but I also know I have a job to do too.”
The truck Lupton will pilot is the one Young drove to a sixth-place finish at Daytona in February.