As the 2016 NASCAR XFINITY Series season draws to an end, Dakoda Armstrong remains focused on finishing his first season with JGL Racing in strong fashion. Showing great speed in his No. 28 JGL Racing Toyota in qualifying, Armstrong would battle a tight condition during the race on his way to notching a 19th place finish in the running of the Ticket Galaxy 200 on Saturday night at the Phoenix International Raceway.
“We had a really strong No. 28 Toyota there in qualifying earlier in the day and that had our expectations pretty high for the race,” said Armstrong. “But once we started the race our car was just too tight for me to get through the corners like we needed to. The track just seemed to tighten up for us and in the past at night it typically loosens up. We tried some adjustments but they just didn’t seem to help as much as we needed.”
With a strong qualifying effort earlier in the day, Dakoda would start the 200-lap event from the 12th position. The early laps of the event would see the No. 28 Toyota move inside the top-10 before sliding back in the field with Armstrong reporting he was tight in the center. A caution on lap 48 allowed for the first trip down pit road and adjustments to try to help the handling. As Dakoda maintained his track position he reported to the JGL Racing crew that the adjustments helped a little and he was rotating through the center better.
However, the last 100 laps of the race would see the struggle with the tight condition worsen as Armstrong battled for key positions on the track and avoided a big accident on the front stretch that occurred right in front of him. In the end, Dakoda would battle for all he could get and come home with his 21st top-20 finish of the season.
“I am really proud of the effort by everyone on this JGL Racing team,” added Dakoda. “Our No. 28 Toyota was very strong earlier in the day in qualifying and that is a result of all of their hard work. The track just seemed to change a little differently tonight when the sun went down and that really hurt our efforts. We head to Homestead for the season finale next week and look to add a strong finish to the season.”
The 19th-place finish keeps Armstrong in the 13th position in the overall NASCAR XFINITY Series drivers’ standings.
JGL Racing PR
