It was a successful weekend for the No. 43 WinField team after going into the weekend with high expectations. Dakoda Armstrong and the WinField Ford were fast right out of the gate posting Top-10 times in both of Thursday's practice sessions. Armstrong started the 250-lap race from the 12th position. He raced in the Top-15 all night, and after a spectacular restart with 18 laps to go, Armstrong gained four positions to earn a seventh-place finish, his career-best NASCAR Nationwide Series finish. It's also the team's best finish of the season after earning their first Top-10 finish just three races prior at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
Armstrong started from the 12th position and immediately worked his way into the Top-10. He dropped back a few positions early in the run, but the No. 43 WinField Ford came to life during long green-flag runs. He was posting the fastest lap times on the board and running in the 11thposition when the second caution of the night came on Lap 74. Armstrong reported the No. 43 Ford was just a tick free on exit. Crew Chief Philippe Lopez called for four tires, a trackbar adjustment and fuel. Armstrong restarted in the 10th position on Lap 81.
The restart immediately brought another caution, but this time Armstrong was not as happy with the No. 43 Ford. After restarting on the outside, he was forced back to the 15th position. He stayed on the track and restarted in the same position. The caution came out again just two laps after the restart on Lap 90. This time Lopez called the No. 43 Ford down pit road for four tires and fuel. He restarted 15th on Lap 103.
Armstrong would get another long green-flag run and was able to work his way up to the 11thposition after fighting through lapped traffic before the yellow flag waved again on Lap 167. Again, the No. 43 Ford came to pit road for four tires and fuel. He restarted in the same position on Lap 172.
The field saw a 55-lap run before NASCAR Officials displayed the final caution on Lap 227 for an accident in Turn Two. Armstrong gave up the 12th position to come to pit road for four tires and fuel. The WinField crew gained one spot on pit road, and he restarted 11th with 18 laps to go.
Armstrong had a spectacular restart, racing three-wide to gain positions, and gained three spots in just one lap. He gained two more positions in the closing laps to cross the finish line in the seventh position, his career-best NASCAR Nationwide Series finish. The Top-10 finish is also the team's highest finish of the season, besting their 10th-place finish from Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course just three weeks ago.
"It was good," said Armstrong. "I thought we had a really good racecar going into the weekend. Everyone was kind of happy with qualifying, but I was a little disappointed because I knew our car was better than that. We were still a little off from the really fast guys but had some really good adjustments during the race and had a good pit stop to get track position and gain some at the end. Everyone did a good job making this car better throughout the entire weekend. I have to thank Goodyear. This tire was a lot better. In the spring we were really good but had a lot of tire problems. This time we showed how fast we were. Hopefully we can carry this momentum into next week."
The NNS team at Richard Petty Motorsports returns to action at Chicagoland Speedway for the Jimmy John's Freaky Fast 300 on September 13. The race will be televised live on ESPN2.
About Richard Petty Motorsports:
A performance and marketing driven company, Richard Petty Motorsports, co-owned by NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty and successful business entrepreneurs Andrew Murstein and Douglas Bergeron, is one of the most recognized brands in all of motorsports. With a history of over 200 wins and business partnerships with national and global leaders, today the race operation fields two teams in competition in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Aric Almirola pilots the famous No. 43 Ford Fusion with primary partners Smithfield Foods, U.S. Air Force, STP, Strike Ten Entertainment and Fresh From Florida, and Marcos Ambrose drives the No. 9 machine with primary partners STANLEY, DEWALT, Mac Tools and Twisted Tea. In addition, Dakoda Armstrong wheels the No. 43 WinField Ford Mustang full-time in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. The team is headquartered in Concord, N.C.