John Wes Townley has opted to sit out Friday night’s Lucas Oil 150 at Phoenix International Raceway, missing his second consecutive Camping World Truck Series race.
Townley is still recovering from a non-racing related injury to his left ankle.
Dylan Lupton will drive the No. 05 Chevrolet for Athenian Motorsports with sponsorship from Lupton Excavation. It will be Lupton’s second career start in the series. He finished 12th in his debut at Talladega Superspeedway on Oct. 29.
“My ankle is still pretty sore but I’m hoping I’ll be ready to race next weekend at Homestead,” Townley said in a team release. “Dylan competed in some Xfinity races for Athenian Motorsports last year and did a solid job. He’s got tons of experience at Phoenix, so I’m very confident he’ll give our Chevrolet a good run there Friday night.”
Excited to be racing in the #05 Lupton Excavation/Zaxbys truck this weekend for @AthenianMotors at @PhoenixRaceway pic.twitter.com/S7egwTwWWh
— Dylan Lupton (@LuptonDylan) November 7, 2016
Cody Coughlin replaced Townley in last Friday’s race at Texas Motor Speedway, finishing 28th.
Phoenix will be the fourth race Townley has missed this season. He did not compete in two Truck Series races during the summer after suffering a concussion Gateway Motorsports Park.