Dakoda Armstrong and the No. 43 WinField team were relegated to a 30th-place finish after a late race accident in Saturday's NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The No. 43 team improved the handling of the No. 43 Ford throughout the race but was marred by a speeding penalty on Lap 108. Three-wide racing with 30 laps to go caused contact with another car and forced Armstrong into the outside wall. The No. 43 WinField Ford suffered too much damage for the team to continue.
Armstrong started the 200-mile race from the 23rd position. A slow car on the restart bunched up the field, forcing the No. 43 WinField Ford to fall back to the 30th position. Armstrong immediately began gaining back positions and ran 26th when the first caution flag waved on Lap 14. With the early caution Crew Chief Frankie Kerr made the call to stay out. Armstrong restarted 18th on Lap 22.
The No. 43 WinField Ford raced within the Top-20 until the next caution on Lap 48. Armstrong reported that the car was losing front grip and got tighter later in the run. He came to pit road for four tires, chassis adjustments and fuel. A problem on the left-front of the car during the stop caused the No. 43 Ford to lose spots on pit road, and Armstrong restarted 22nd on Lap 52.
Armstrong gained three positions on the restart when the yellow-flag waved again for an accident in Turn Four. The No. 43 Ford stayed on the track and restarted 19th on Lap 60. In the next 45 laps, Armstrong gained two positions before coming to pit road for a green-flag pit stop on Lap 105. Still working with tight conditions on the No. 43 Ford, Kerr called for four tires, a wedge adjustment and fuel. NASCAR Officials issued a pass through penalty to the No. 43 Ford for too fast entering pit road. Armstrong served the penalty and returned to the track in the 24th spot.
Working to make up some ground, Armstrong gained two spots before another green-flag pit stop on Lap 155. The No. 43 WinField Ford came to pit road for four tires, wedge adjustment and fuel. A single-car accident in Turn Two brought out another caution on Lap 161, but Armstrong stayed out to restart 23rd on Lap 167.
Battling for position after the restart resulted in three-wide racing. The tight racing caused the No. 43 Ford to have contract with another car and forced Armstrong into the outside wall. With heavy damage to the No. 43 WinField Ford, the team wasn't able to continue the race, and Armstrong was relegated to a 30th-place finish. With the finish, Armstrong drops seven spots in the Championship points standings to 12th.
"Well, that definitely wasn't the day we wanted today," said Armstrong. "We actually were able to work on the car to make it better during the race, but we fell behind early because we had to do a pass through penalty. We were racing hard to make up the ground and someone made it three-wide. There just wasn't enough room for all of us, and the contact forced me into the outside wall. I hate it for this No. 43 WinField team, they worked really hard this weekend, but we'll regroup and get ready for Phoenix."
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 entrepreneur Andrew Murstein, 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 Sam Hornish Jr. drives the No. 9 machine with primary partners Medallion Bank and Twisted Tea. In addition, Dakoda Armstrong wheels the No. 43 WinField Ford Mustang full-time in the NASCAR XFINITY Series. The team is headquartered in Mooresville, N.C.