With just a handful of points separating Dakoda Armstrong from 11th place in the XFINITY Series championship, the No. 43 WinField Ford team came to Indianapolis looking for a strong performance to climb the next rung in the standings. But, an untimely green flag stop held the WinField team at bay this week. Armstrong finished in the 19th position and maintains the 12th spot in the championship run.
Armstrong started the race from the 18th position. During the initial laps, he was racing hard to advance his position. Armstrong reported "the car was good by itself, but would lose the handling in traffic," making passing difficult. The first yellow flag of the race came on Lap 14 for a stalled car on the backstretch. Kerr called Armstrong down to pit road. The WinField crew changed four tires, added fuel and made a trackbar adjustment. The race restarted on Lap 17 with Armstrong still in the 22nd position.
The adjustments were immediately effective. Armstrong advanced three positions in two laps, moving into the 19th spot. Armstrong continued to charge forward. After several laps on his tires, Armstrong got caught in traffic, falling victim to "aero loose" conditions. The caution came out shortly after on Lap 24 for a two car wreck in Turn 1. Kerr called Armstrong down to pit under caution for fuel and a trackbar adjustment. Kerr instructed Armstrong to save as much fuel as possible, especially under caution. After a lengthy cleanup for the large amount of debris, the race restarted on Lap 30 with the WinField Ford in 20th position.
The next segment of the race was a long, green-flag stretch, and as the tires wore down, the chassis adjustments took effect. By Lap 40, Armstrong raced his way into 18th position. Ten laps later at the halfway point, Armstrong cracked the Top-15 for the first time. Armstrong continued to progress through the field. On Lap 56, Armstrong made his way into the 12th position.
On Lap 67, Kerr called Armstrong to pit road under the green flag. The WinField crew changed four tires and filled the fuel tank full. Armstrong rejoined the field in 21st position, losing a lap while on pit road. As green flag stops cycled through, an untimely caution fell on Lap 70 for debris, with Armstrong just outside of the Lucky Dog spot. The race restarted on Lap 75 with Armstrong in 20th position.
Armstrong moved up to 19th position, the first car one lap down, on Lap 79. Needing a caution to rejoin the lead lap, Armstrong fought to maintain the Lucky Dog spot. The laps continued to count down but the caution never came. The checkered flag fell on Lap 100 with Armstrong in 19h position. He maintains 12th position in the points standing.
"We wanted more for the WinField team in my home state," Said Armstrong. "But, we were able to improve with adjustments throughout practice and today. The new aero package acts as wild card. It's just a process we'll have to work through.. The car came to us deeper in the run. Unfortunately, we got caught a lap down and just missed getting the lap back. We had a long streak of gaining points every week and we will restart that again next week in Iowa."
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, 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.