For the second straight week, Mother Nature played havoc on the NASCAR XFINITY Series schedule as Hurricane Matthew delayed the series event at Charlotte Motor Speedway for two days. Once finally given the chance to race, Dakoda Armstrong and his JGL Racing team withstood a few issues on their way to a 19th place finish in the running of the Race for the Cure 300 at the Concord, North Carolina track.
“That was an eventful race for us,” said Armstrong. “We were pretty strong there on that first long green flag run after we started off a little tight through the center – but our No. 28 WinField Toyota really came to us late in the run. We tried to adjust for the early tightness in a run and it just never was the same the rest of the race. Then late in the race we had an engine issue and cut a tire down. But this team continues to work hard and we came out of here with another top-20 finish.”
Armstrong would start the 200 lap event from the 20th position after rain washed out qualifying on Friday and forced everyone to wait until Sunday to race. After the two-day delay, Dakoda would fire off the Sunday afternoon race letting his crew know that the track didn’t seem to have much grip. A caution on lap 25 allowed for a trip down pit road and some good adjustments by the JGL Racing crew. An ensuing long green flag run would find the No. 28 WinField Toyota really get stronger towards the end of the run.
The second half of the race would see Armstrong and his No. 28 WinField Toyota battle being a little too free overall as further adjustments and a changing race track presented a challenge. With 50 laps remaining, Dakoda would relay to his crew that something was wrong with the engine despite turning consistent lap times. Then in the closing laps Armstrong would encounter a cut left rear tire while narrowly avoiding contact with fellow competitors and the outside wall. As the checkered flag flew, Dakoda would safely bring home his No. 28 WinField Toyota to his 18th top-20 finish of the season.
“For the second week in a row we encountered some odd on track issues,” added Dakoda. “But again it is a testament to everyone at JGL Racing as we worked together and came home with another top-20 finish.”
The 19th-place finish moves Armstrong up to the 13th position in the overall NASCAR XFINITY Series drivers’ standings.
The NASCAR XFINITY Series will next head to Kansas Speedway for the running of the Kansas Lottery 300. The 30th race of the NASCAR XFINITY Series season will be Saturday October 15th and can be seen LIVE on NBC at 4:00 pm ET. It can also be heard on Motor Racing Network (MRN) and SiriusXM Channel 90.
ISM PR
Follow us on Twitter @SpeedwayDigest
Latest posts by Speedway Digest Staff (see all)