NASCAR driver Robby Lyons who has previously competed in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series will make his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut in the Ford EcoBoost 300 this Saturday November 16 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Lyons will make his series debut behind the wheel of the No. 17 Chevrolet for Rick Ware Racing.
“I can’t really put into words how much this weekend means. It’s been a long, difficult year both in racing and personally”, Lyons told Kickin’ The Tires. “My goals for the weekend are to just make all the laps, stay out of trouble and out of the picture. I’d say a Top-20 finish would be a big accomplishment. The No. 17 has finished up there in two of the last three races, so I’d love to make it three of the last four after 300 miles on Saturday.”
The 30-year old has competed in 12 NGOTS over the last three years, with his most recent event being the season opening NextEra Energy 250 at Daytona International Speedway this past February.
Lyons piloted the No. 42 Sunwest Construction / Auto Value Chevrolet for Chad Finley Racing in the first event of the 2019 season. After qualifying 20th on the starting grid, an unfortunate crash only 16 laps into the event ended Lyons day early, relegating him to a 30th place finish.
“My (2019) season basically started and ended on lap two at Daytona, we had nothing but bad luck after that. Our hauler got wrecked at Atlanta, my Vegas truck was damaged in that ordeal and we had to skip that race. Just a lot of disappointment”, Lyons said. “Looking ahead, I wanted so badly to be able to race at Homestead again before it was moved from the championship weekend to the spring date next year.”
The Florida native’s previous 11 starts prior to earlier this season came with Jay Robinson’s Premium Motorsports starting with his series debut at ISM Raceway (previously Phoenix Raceway) in the fall of 2017.
Lyons finished 12th in his Truck Series debut and went on to finish 24th in the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
In 2018, Lyons earned two top-15s and seven top-25s in nine series starts that season with a season best finish of 13th in the season-opener at Daytona International Speedway.
The Xfinity Series season finale will be the first time in just under a year’s times that Lyon’s has been behind the wheel but it’s at a track he’s raced on twice previously in NASCAR competition.
“To be making my Xfinity debut at basically my home track, with my family and friends there with me, I couldn’t have written a better ending for the year. Not only is it a great way to end the season, but it’ll be great for building momentum heading into 2020. I’ve got some incredible opportunities on the table, hopefully I’ll be able to capitalize starting this weekend.”