Dakoda Armstrong Brings Home Solid Top-15 Finish at Auto Club Speedway

Dakoda Armstrong - Photo Credit: Tyler Barrick/Getty Images

Making his NASCAR Nationwide Series debut with Richard Childress Racing, Dakoda Armstrong garnered an impressive top-15 finish Saturday afternoon at Auto Club Speedway. After qualifying 13th earlier in the day, the 21-year-old driver maintained a top-20 running position for the first portion of the 150-lap event while battling a tight-handling condition on his No. 33 Winfield Chevrolet Camaro.

After coming down pit road multiple times for routine service and adjustments, Armstrong radioed to crew chief Ernie Cope that the car had transitioned from a tight to loose-handling, but tightened back up as the run progressed. Armstrong was a mainstay in the top 15 for a majority of the afternoon while the No. 33 WinField pit crew reeled off impressive pit stops, gaining positions on pit road during every visit.

As the last caution flag of the race was displayed on lap 111, Cope made the last-minute decision to take fuel only and not change tires, placing Armstrong in the ninth position for the ensuing restart. The RCR driver was shuffled back through the field on a wild restart, which featured four and five-wide battles across the track, but the young Nationwide Series competitor showcased patience and persistence by picking off five competitors over the final 20 laps to bring home a 15th-place finish. With their solid finish, the No. 33 Chevrolet team now sits eighth in the Nationwide Series owner championship point standings.

Start - 13

Finish - 15

Laps Led - 0

Owner Points - 8

DAKODA ARMSTRONG QUOTE:

“I can’t thank everyone at Richard Childress Racing enough for this opportunity. We definitely had a top-10 car the entire afternoon, but I kept having trouble on the restarts and had to dig myself out of a hole all day. The entire No. 33 Winfield Chevrolet team was great, especially on pit road and I’m looking forward to driving this car again at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May.”

Source: Richard Childress Racing Press Release

The article Dakoda Armstrong Brings Home Solid Top-15 Finish at Auto Club Speedway is from Catchfence.

Source: http://www.catchfence.com/2013/nationwide/03/24/dakoda-armstrong-brings-home-solid-top-15-finish-at-auto-club-speedway/

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