JOLIET, IL (September 18, 2016) - Dakoda Armstrong and his JGL Racing team entered the final race before The Chase with a glimmer of hope for the inaugural event in the NASCAR XFINITY Series.  Unfortunately, a very disappointing performance dashed those hopes as Armstrong piloted his No. 28 LetsTalkFood.com Toyota to a 22nd place finish in the running of the Drive for Safety 300 at Chicagoland Speedway.

"Well that wasn't the kind of day we were looking for," said Armstrong.  "Our No. 28 Toyota seemed pretty good but we just didn't have the speed in it that we needed.  The center of the corner really hurt us all day and something just seemed to be missing there.  We came in with a very small chance to making The Chase and we didn't do anything on our end to put ourselves in a position to capitalize on anything.  In the end it didn't matter as the other guys did what they had to do - but still very disappointing in the showing we had today."

With a special paint scheme of the LetsTalkFood.com campaign on his No. 28 Toyota, Armstrong would start the 200-lap event from the 21st position.  Once the green flag flew, Dakoda would lose a few positions as he reported he got stuck on the bottom and lost some momentum.  When the competition caution flew on lap 25 he would relay to his JGL Racing team that his car wasn't too bad - maybe just a little loose.  With an air pressure adjustment switching the No. 28 Toyota a little to the tight condition, another trip down pit road just before the halfway mark of the race allowed for another adjustment.

The second half of the race would have Armstrong report his No. 28 Toyota was a little better but still struggled to gain positions on the track.  Also, twice in the 300-mile event an untimely caution would come out one lap after Dakoda made trips down pit road for green flag pit stops.  With the untimely cautions and something just missing on his No. 28 LetsTalkFood.com Toyota, Armstrong would come home with the disappointing 22nd place finish.

"I am really proud of this JGL Racing team," added Dakoda.  "We came close to making The Chase.  We just need to stay focused the remainder of the season and finish strong.  We have a lot to be thankful for and I am confident we will keep our heads up high."
The 22nd-place finish would keep Armstrong in the 13th position in the overall NASCAR XFINITY Series drivers' standings.

The NASCAR XFINITY Series will next head to Kentucky Speedway for the running of the VisitMyrtleBeach.com 300. The 27th race of the NASCAR XFINITY Series season will be Saturday September 24th and can be seen LIVE on NBC Sports Network at 8:00 pm ET.  It can also be heard on Performance Racing Network (PRN) and SiriusXM Channel 90.