The championship in Couch Potato Racing's first season of the DrinkNOS Cup Series was won by lupeg575. He led the series in poles won, and his five wins ranked second on the season..
Battling through tough luck early in the season, lupeg575 feared a championship bid may have been lost early on.
"I thought it would hurt my chances at trying to win a championship, especially because I started a little late in the season." he said at the conclusion of the season.
lupeg575 made his debut in the fourth race of the season at Auto Club Speedway. He took the checkered flag in his first race.
"I just joined the league and didn’t expect to get the pole and win" at Auto Club, said lupeg575.
It was after this first win that he had his worst stretch of racing of the season. In multiple races, lupeg575 would receive late race contact while leading and wind up at the bottom end of the results.
Dover was especially tough, as
he led all but a few laps but wound up crashed off turn two on the final lap. lupeg575 didn't list Dover as a race stolen, but said felt he let that win get away.
Pocono is where his luck turned around, as lupeg575 scored his second victory. It wasn't, however, without controversy as contact with then-leader jamiedobbs911 on the final lap in turn two helped to spark a minor rivalry.
The rivalry was short lived, and played out more in the eyes of fellow competitors than on the track between lupeg575 and jamiedobbs911
lupeg575 said " I felt like I could race with Jamiedobbs and megatron pretty hard and not cause a wreck." He added that all of CPR's participants were fun to race with, and said that there isn't a driver in the series he wouldn't mind losing to any given week.
CPR is lupeg575's third league of participation, having raced previously with Dynasty Racing and Ascension Elite Racing. He scored the Busch Series championship at Dynasty Racing, and took home Cup victories in
each of these two leagues.
Looking towards the second season of the DrinkNOS Cup Series, lupeg575 is looking to defend his championship.
" I expect all the chasers to be fast again." he said, adding that several others may be sleepers for the upcoming season.
He hopes the bad luck that plagued him for several weeks last season will be non-existent this season.
The new season will bring a manufacturer change for lupeg575, as he switches from Chevrolet to the Dodge Charger.
"I look forward to showing off my new Dodge and Mopar paint schemes." said lupeg575.
lupeg575 added "I would like to thank Jamiedobbs and SwaggerRacing for the good hard racing we had during the season. We had a little bumping and banging but it was fun."
lupeg575 begins his title defense on Tuesday, September 16.
Interview with a Champion - By Jamie Dobbs