INDIANAPOLIS, IN (July 24, 2016) - As a native of nearby New Castle, Indiana, the annual visit to Indianapolis Motor Speedway is always a special one for Dakoda Armstrong. However, a corporate dinner the night before the running of the Lilly Diabetes 250 left Armstrong with a severe case of food poisoning. With the help of some doctor's attention and proper hydration, Dakoda was able to fight the food poisoning and the extreme heat as he steered his No. 28 Winfield Toyota to a 20th place finish in the NASCAR XFINITY Series event at the legendary Indiana track.
"Well in the middle of the night last night I wasn't sure at all that I was going to be able to compete today so overall I guess our result wasn't too bad," said Armstrong. "Our car was better than our finish as we got caught three wide with some traffic there on that last restart. My team gave me a top-15 car today and I appreciate all of their hard work."
In the last Dash 4 Cash race of the season, Dakoda would qualify 20th and thus start 10th in the second heat race. With the 20-lap dash resulting in very little passing - Dakoda would finish right where he started and as a result would start the main race from the 20th position.
Early in the 60-lap main race, Armstrong would report to his JGL Racing crew that his No. 28 Winfield Toyota was just a little too tight. A trip down pit road under green flag conditions at the halfway point of the race allowed for some adjustments. With a late caution presenting an overtime finish, Dakoda would get stuck in some traffic which lost him a few positions in the closing laps but he still earned his fifth straight top-20 finish.
"This was such a big weekend for us with our sponsor Winfield having a big group present at the track - and what a horrible weekend to get food poisoning," added Dakoda. "But we battled through it and as a team we continue to grow and get better each week. Our finish was not indicative of how strong our No. 28 Winfield Toyota was today."
The 20th-place finish would keep Armstrong in the 15th position in the overall NASCAR XFINITY Series drivers' standings - 34 points of the top-12.
The NASCAR XFINITY Series will next head to the Iowa Speedway for the running of the US Cellular 250. The 19th race of the NASCAR XFINITY Series season will be Saturday July 30th and can be seen LIVE on NBC Sports Network at 8:00 pm ET. It can also be heard on Motor Racing Network (MRN) and SiriusXM Channel 90.
Dakota Armstrong Press Release.
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