Dakoda Armstrong NCWTS Post Race Report- Texas

Nearing the end of his first full nascar camping world truck series season, Dakoda Armstrong carried high expectations to Texas Motor Speedway on Friday night. After a strong run at the 1.5-mile facility in June and solid practice sessions on Thursday, the WinField crew hoped to carry their momentum into the WinStar world Casino 350. Plagued by handling woes from the drop of the green flag, Armstrong settled for a 17th-place finish.

Starting from the 12th position, Armstrong slid just outside the top-15 and settled into a rhythm through the first several laps of the event. First reporting to crew chief Richie Wauters on Lap 13 that his Silverado was way too tight, Armstrong received his first chance to come to pit road under the caution just 12 laps later. Making chassis and air pressure adjustments to help remedy the tight handling condition during a quick pit stop, the WinField crew send its driver back to competition in the 13th position.

Not long after his first trip to pit road, Armstrong informed Wauters the changes had not helped his No. 60 machine and the tightness was increasing as the run wore on. After a second round of it stops and changes on Lap 60, the WinField crew determined the splitter had been hitting the track to cause the tightness. Just before the restart under the third and final caution, Wauters called Armstrong to pit road to raise the front of the truck off the ground.

Though the final changes helped get the front end of the truck off the ground, the crew had gone too far with the previous adjustments. Armstrong then battled a Chevy that was way too loose in the final 30 laps, relegating him to a 17th place finish.

 
Quotes:

“The WinField guys did a really good job on pit road tonight making a lot of changes to try and help loosen us up,” Armstrong said. “By the time we figured out that the front of the truck was too low, we had already made adjustments that took the back end of the truck out of the track and we went from way too tight to way too loose. If it wasn’t for that, I think we could’ve had a much better finish tonight.”

Dakoda Armstrong PR