Third Time a Charm at Iowa; Top-10 Finish for Armstrong

On his third trip to the birthplace of his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) career, Dakoda Armstrong put himself in position to capitalize in the closing laps of the American Ethanol 200 presented by Enogen. By virtue of fighting for and receiving three “lucky dog” passes to get back on the lead lap throughout the night, Armstrong stood to gain several spots in the final five laps as the leaders experienced several close calls. Staying attentive as he took the white flag, Armstrong steered around several trucks as they tangled in the final turns to take home a 10th-place finish.
 
An extended day of practice on Friday at Iowa Speedway for the NCWTS competitors proved to benefit the WinField team as they made several changes to their Silverado to help the handling issues Armstrong was facing. At the completion of final practice on Saturday afternoon, the Indiana native praised his Turn One Racing team for all of their hard work reported that they were much closer to where they needed to be, especially in race trim.Starting the 200-lap event from the 22nd position, Armstrong reported that he was struggling to get back to the throttle in the turns shortly after the drop of the green flag. Though he fell one lap down to the leaders before the first caution on lap 56,  he was able to maintain the “lucky dog” position and take advantage to get back on the lead lap. 
 
Though  crew chief Gere Kennon and the WinField crew were able to make steady improvements on the No. 60 Silverado during each pit stop, Armstrong would find himself clawing back to the lead lap via the “lucky dog” award twice more throughout the night. The final opportunity for the 21-year-old to capitalize before the checkered flag came on lap 168  while Armstrong was running just outside the top-15. Staying close to the leaders after he had been passed, Armstrong once again received his lap back when the caution came out for the fourth time of the night. With less than 10 laps remaining, the final caution flag flew and bunched up the field for a quick dash to the finish. By staying alert in the final laps, Armstrong was able to steer clear of several on-track incidents between other competitors, gain several positions and grab his second top-10 finish of the season.
 
“This weekend was really a case of never giving up and tonight was a big comeback for us,” Armstrong explained.  “The guys on our Turn One Racing team made a ton of changes in practice and we really turned our WinField Silverado around. Thankfully, the ‘lucky dog’ helped us get in position to capitalize at the end of the night when some others had issues. It feels good to get a top-10 after the weekend we had and hopefully we can carry some momentum into Eldora.”
 
Dakoda Armstrong PR