Dakoda Armstrong NCWTS Post Race Report - Homestead-Miami Speedway

Dakoda Armstrong NCWTS Post Race Report - Homestead-Miami Speedway
Posted: 10 years ago

Dakoda Armstrong
No. 60 WinField Chevrolet Silverado
Homestead Miami Speedway Race Report
Ford EcoBoost 200 | NCWTS Race 22 of 22

Race Statistics
Start: 21
Finish: 23
Laps: 148/148
Status: Running
Final Point Standings: 12th (-176)

Recap:
HOMESTEAD, Fla. (Nov. 16, 2013) – Closing out his first full season of NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) competition at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Dakoda Armstrong and the No. 60 WinField team had their sights set on a strong run in the Ford EcoBoost 200. As the sun went down at the 1.5-mile facility, handling conditions drastically changed for the Indiana native as he fought to find grip for his Silverado for the first 100 laps of the main event. Receiving fresh tires before the first attempt at a green-white-checkered finish, Armstrong motored forward and had a top-10 finish in his sights before he was collected in a multi-truck incident coming to the white flag. Damage to his machine resulted in a 23rd-place finish.

First transmitting to crew chief Richie Wauters that his WinField Chevy was tight and lacked overall grip on Lap 38, the young driver received his first round of changes under a yellow flag pit stop four laps later. Determining that the scuffed tires the team was using for the No. 60 Silverado were causing the lack of grip just after the halfway point, Armstrong was able to get a fresh set of sticker tires on Lap 95 to make his charge forward. A great pit stop by the WinField crew put Armstrong back inside the top-20 after the ill-handling conditions shuffled him backwards from his 21st starting position in the opening portion of the event.

The call for fresh Goodyear Wrangler tires seemed to improve the conditions for Armstrong, but he informed the Wauters Motorsports crew he still needed a little more help to get to the front. Intensity picked up as the laps clicked off and as the caution flag flew with four laps remaining, Wauters decided to give his driver one last chance at a solid finish and brought him down pit road for four fresh tires and one final adjustment.

The WinField Silverado came to life with the four sticker tires and final adjustments received during the stop, as Armstrong had a great restart on the first attempt for a green-white-checkered finish. The racing continued to pick up as the caution flag flew for twice more in the closing laps, setting up the field for a final attempt at a finish under green-flag racing conditions on Lap 143. Restarting from the 16th spot, Armstrong made a bold move to the outside and had the top-10 in his sights before two competitors got together coming to the white flag, collecting the No. 60 machine in the aftermath. The incident forced him to cautiously drive around on the final lap to collect a 23rd-place finish.

Quotes:
"We really struggled tonight on the two sets of scuffed tires we put on first, and that got us behind before the last pit stop. Once we got sticker tires back on the WinField Silverado, we gained so much grip and I was really looking forward to the last restart. I think we could've made it into the top ten there on the final green-white-checkered restart because I found a huge hole on the top side and was making ground, but we got caught up in someone else's mess. I hate it for these guys because they never give up each week and I can't thank Richie Wauters enough for what he's done to help us boost our performance in the final five races. It's going to be a long off season and I'm already looking forward to Daytona."

Notes:

Friday's NCWTS Season Finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway was Armstrong’s third career start at the 1.5-mile oval.
Experiencing a loss of overall grip in the WinField Silverado after the drop of the green flag, crew chief Richie Wauters and the No. 60 crew made several changes to remedy the handling condition and gain the 22-year-old driver more grip overall.
Taking four tires before the first green-white-checkered restart gave Armstrong fresh rubber to make a final charge, but he was stopped short due to an incident in front of him. The result was a 23rd-place finish.