Dakoda Armstrong

Dakoda Armstrong
Armstrong at Road America in 2016
Born	(1991-07-16) July 16, 1991 (age 33) New Castle, Indiana
Achievements	1998 WKA National champion 2000, 2001 Nascart champion 2004 USAC Kenyon Midget champion
Awards	2010 ARCA Racing Series Rookie of the Year
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
133 races run over 6 years
2017 position	17th
Best finish	13th (2014, 2015, 2016)
First race	2012 Ford EcoBoost 300 (Homestead)
Last race	2017 VisitMyrtleBeach.com 300 (Kentucky)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 8 1
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career
44 races run over 3 years
2013 position	12th
Best finish	12th (2013)
First race	2011 Coca-Cola 200 (Iowa)
Last race	2013 Ford EcoBoost 200 (Homestead)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 5 0
Statistics current as of September 23, 2017.

Dakoda Armstrong (born July 16, 1991) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 28 Toyota Camry for JGL Racing.

Early career

Armstrong's 2008 USAC Midget car

Armstrong started his racing career racing go-karts at the age of six, winning the 1998 World Karting Association championship in his first year in racing. At age 13, he became the youngest driver to win a USAC national championship when he won the 2004 USAC Mel Kenyon Midget Series. He has won over 200 races while competing in Go-Karts, Quarter Midgets, Bandoleros, Micro/Mini Sprints, Kenyon Midgets, 410 Non-Wing Sprint Cars, and Midgets.^[1]

From 2007 to 2010, Armstrong entered select races of the USAC Silver Crown Series, USAC National Sprint Car Championship and USAC National Midget Series.^[2][3]

ARCA Racing Series

Armstrong signed a driver development deal with Penske Racing. As part of the deal, he would drive for Cunningham Motorsports in the ARCA Racing Series for seven races in 2009. He posted a best finish of 3rd along with two other top ten finishes and a 26th-place finish in the standings.

Armstrong returned to Cunningham Motorsports to drive the No. 22 Dodge full-time in 2010. He got his first win in just his 12th start at Talladega Superspeedway. He followed that with another win at Salem Speedway, finishing the season 7th in the standings with two wins, five top fives, 12 top tens, and one pole.

In 2011, Armstrong cut back on his ARCA schedule as he began focusing on his jump to NASCAR. He would run six races, posting one win at Winchester Speedway, two top fives, four top tens, and a 25th-place finish in the standings.

NASCAR

Armstrong's 2012 truck

Camping World Truck Series

In 2011, Armstrong signed on with ThorSport Racing and ran 7 races with the team with crew chief Dan Stillman. He made his Camping World Truck Series debut July 17 at Iowa Speedway, finishing 21st. He posted his first top ten October 1 at Kentucky Speedway. Armstrong attempted to run full-time with ThorSport with sponsorship from EverFi in the Truck Series in 2012. He was released from the team before the race at Iowa Speedway in September due to poor performance.^[4]

In February 2013 it was announced that Armstrong would be driving for Turn One Racing for the full Truck Series season, and that he would also be running five races in the Nationwide Series for Richard Childress Racing in the No. 33 and No. 21 cars.^[5] He ran the No. 19 for TriStar Motorsports at Homestead-Miami. WinField sponsored all his races.

Xfinity Series

Armstrong racing at Road America in 2014

Armstrong's No. 28 JGL Racing car in 2016

On December 4, 2013, it was announced that Armstrong had been signed by Richard Petty Motorsports to compete full-time in the 2014 NASCAR Nationwide Series, driving the No. 43 Ford Mustang.^[6] At Daytona, Armstrong had his first career pole for the Subway Firecracker 250 at Daytona after qualifying was cancelled due to a rainshower. He would finish 13th in the points standings in 2014.

He returned to Richard Petty Motorsports in 2015, with new chief Frank Kerr. He finished with a career best of 6th-place at Daytona after avoiding 2 Big Ones. On November 23, it was announced that he and RPM had parted ways due to poor performance.^[7]

Armstrong joined JGL Racing in 2016, driving the No. 28 Toyota Camry. He would then return to JGL Racing in 2017.^[8] This 2017 season, he scored two top-five finishes: At Iowa Speedway, on June 24, for the race of 2017 American Ethanol E15 250, he finished 5th place, but on 4 July weekend on July 1 (was supposed to be June 30, but postponed because of persistent rain) for the race of 2017 Coca-Cola Firecracker 250, he scored a career-best of 3rd place. However, Armstrong was released by the team on September 25 for a lack of sponsorship.^[9] Later in the season, Armstrong was seen in the JGL pit area, though he did not clarify if he had any role with the organization.^[10]

Later career

In 2018, Armstrong finished 12th at the ARCA/CRA Super Series's Redbud 400 stock car race at Anderson Speedway.^[11]

In 2021, he entered two USAC Sprints non-points races at the Indianapolis Raceway Park, finishing 5th at the Thursday Night Thunder Homecoming and 10th at the Hoosier Classic.^[12][13]

In 2022, Armstrong finished second at Anderson's Little 500 sprint car race,^[14] and was runner-up at the Indiana-based 500 Sprint Car Tour.^[15] He also entered four USAC Midgets non-points races at the Indianapolis Raceway Park, with a best result of third at the Carb Night Classic.^[16]

Personal life

Beyond the racetrack, Armstrong's Indiana family corn and grain farming operation produces 1.9 million gallons of ethanol fuel per year for various energy programs. While growing up on the farm, he worked on his own racecars in the facilities on his family's property. Aside from racing, Armstrong enjoys getting back to his roots and attends open wheel events whenever he can, especially if he can be at the track to mentor his younger siblings when they're racing. His hobbies also include working out, racing his friends in iRacing and watching football.^[1] On February 5, 2017, Armstrong married Karlee Hensley.

Dakoda's younger cousin Caleb (born 1992) and younger brother Dalton (born 1994), are both racing drivers as well. Caleb was a developmental driver for Venturini Motorsports like his cousin, competing in a few ARCA races for them in 2012 and 2013. Dalton has competed in the CARS Tour and marquee late model events such as the Winchester 400.

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Xfinity Series

NASCAR Xfinity Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	NXSC	Pts	Ref
2012	Turner Motorsports	30	Chevy	DAY	PHO	LVS	BRI	CAL	TEX	RCH	TAL	DAR	IOW	CLT	DOV	MCH	ROA	KEN	DAY	NHA	CHI	IND	IOW	GLN	CGV	BRI	ATL	RCH	CHI	KEN	DOV	CLT	KAN	TEX	PHO	HOM 25	135th	0^1	[17]
2013	Richard Childress Racing	33	Chevy	DAY	PHO	LVS	BRI	CAL 15	TEX	RCH	TAL	DAR																									112th	0^1	[18]
		21											CLT 31	DOV	IOW	MIC	ROA	KEN	DAY	NHA	CHI 15	IND	IOW	GLN	MOH	BRI	ATL	RCH	CHI	KEN 13	DOV	KAN 19	CLT	TEX	PHO
	TriStar Motorsports	19	Toyota																																	HOM 24
2014	Richard Petty Motorsports	43	Ford	DAY 23	PHO 18	LVS 23	BRI 24	CAL 20	TEX 22	DAR 18	RCH 17	TAL 18	IOW 21	CLT 19	DOV 16	MCH 19	ROA 25	KEN 20	DAY 19	NHA 30	CHI 20	IND 17	IOW 21	GLN 25	MOH 10	BRI 28	ATL 33	RCH 7	CHI 22	KEN 19	DOV 17	KAN 25	CLT 19	TEX 10	PHO 21	HOM 20	13th	788	[19]
2015				DAY 11	ATL 20	LVS 30	PHO 18	CAL 36	TEX 16	BRI 23	RCH 27	TAL 22	IOW 21	CLT 16	DOV 14	MCH 16	CHI 28	DAY 6	KEN 17	NHA 16	IND 19	IOW 16	GLN 23	MOH 23	BRI 24	ROA 34	DAR 18	RCH 21	CHI 15	KEN 14	DOV 20	CLT 16	KAN 20	TEX 18	PHO 18	HOM 15	13th	803	[20]
2016	JGL Racing	28	Toyota	DAY 14	ATL 21	LVS 22	PHO 18	CAL 22	TEX 26	BRI 30	RCH 14	TAL 34	DOV 21	CLT 21	POC 18	MCH 24	IOW 17	DAY 12	KEN 18	NHA 17	IND 20		GLN 18	MOH 21	BRI 18	ROA 13	DAR 18	RCH 16	CHI 22	KEN 18	DOV 20	CLT 19	KAN 20	TEX 20	PHO 19	HOM 19	13th	718	[21]
	Joe Gibbs Racing	18	Toyota																			IOW 5
2017	JGL Racing	28	Toyota	DAY 12	ATL 21	LVS 20	PHO 17	CAL 20	TEX 17	BRI 19	RCH 16	TAL 22	CLT 20	DOV 19	POC 20	MCH 20	IOW 5	DAY 3	KEN 17	NHA 24	IND 20	IOW 17	GLN 21	MOH 10	BRI 24	ROA 22	DAR 29	RCH 18	CHI 16	KEN 23	DOV	CLT	KAN	TEX	PHO	HOM	17th	521	[22]

^* Season still in progress
¹ Ineligible for series points

Camping World Truck Series

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	NCWTC	Pts	Ref
2011	ThorSport Racing	98	Chevy	DAY	PHO	DAR	MAR	NSH	DOV	CLT	KAN	TEX	KEN	IOW 21	NSH	IRP 21	POC	MCH 24	BRI	ATL	CHI 20	NHA	KEN 9	LVS	TAL 17	MAR	TEX	HOM 25	29th	172	[23]
2012			Toyota	DAY 35	MAR 21	CAR 14	KAN 15	CLT 13	DOV 20	TEX 18	KEN 13	IOW 27	CHI 16	POC 12	MCH 3	BRI 30	ATL 23	IOW											20th	370	[24]
	Turner Motorsports	4	Chevy																KEN 31	LVS	TAL	MAR	TEX	PHO	HOM
2013	Turn One Racing	60	Chevy	DAY 19	MAR 7	CAR 17	KAN 12	CLT 12	DOV 21	TEX 11	KEN 21	IOW 10	ELD 11	POC 18	MCH 13	BRI 18	MSP 19	IOW 16	CHI 17	LVS 16	TAL 5	MAR 18	TEX 17	PHO 19	HOM 23				12th	628	[25]

Camping World East Series

Camping World East Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	NCWEC	Pts	Ref
2009	Ken Schrader Racing	4	Chevy	GRE 12	TRI 7	IOW									24th	512	[26]
		52					SBO 17	GLN	NHA 12	TMP	ADI	LRP	NHA	DOV

ARCA Racing Series

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

ARCA Racing Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	ARSC	Pts	Ref
2009	Venturini Motorsports	15	Chevy	DAY	SLM	CAR	TAL	KEN	TOL 20	POC	MCH	MFD													26th	1415	[27]
	Cunningham Motorsports	4	Dodge										IOW 6	KEN 11	BLN	POC 29	ISF	CHI	TOL 13	DSF	NJE	SLM 3	KAN
		22																						CAR 8
2010				DAY 33	PBE 14	SLM 7	TEX 12	TAL 1	TOL 7	POC 8	MCH 11	IOW 4	MFD 5	POC 2	BLN 6	NJE 10	ISF 9	CHI 11	DSF 11	TOL 9	SLM 1*	KAN 11	CAR 11		7th	4705	[28]
2011				DAY 20	TAL 14	SLM 8	TOL 8	NJE	CHI	POC	MCH	WIN 1	BLN	IOW	IRP 4	POC	ISF	MAD	DSF	SLM	KAN	TOL			25th	1120	[29]
2016	Venturini Motorsports	15	Toyota	DAY	NSH	SLM	TAL	TOL	NJE	POC	MCH	MAD	WIN 9	IOW	IRP	POC	BLN	ISF	DSF	SLM	CHI	KEN	KAN		100th	185	[30]

References

1. "Career Highlights". DakodaArmstrong.com. Retrieved 2011-11-18.
2. "2009 USAC Silver Crown season review". United States Auto Club. April 20, 2020.
3. "Where it all started: USAC Indiana Midget Week comes home to the Burg Saturday". United States Auto Club. June 1, 2022.
4. Adamczyk, Jay (September 7, 2012). "Armstrong & ThorSport Racing part ways". Jayski's Silly Season Site. ESPN. Retrieved 2012-09-07.
5. "Armstrong Will Drive Limited Schedule For RCR". SPEED Channel. Fox Sports. February 8, 2012. Archived from the original on 2013-02-12. Retrieved 2013-02-08.
6. Jensen, Tom (December 4, 2013). "'The King' makes a hire: Armstrong to run NNS for RPM". Fox Sports. Retrieved 2013-12-04.
7. Spencer, Lee (November 24, 2015). "Armstrong and Richard Petty Motorsports split". Motorsport.com. Archived from the original on November 27, 2015. Retrieved November 27, 2015.
8. Spencer, Lee (January 9, 2016). "Armstrong finds new home for 2016 NASCAR Xfinity Series season". Motorsport.com. Archived from the original on January 10, 2016. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
9. "JGL Racing dismisses Dakoda Armstrong due to lack of sponsorship". Motorsport.com. September 25, 2017. Retrieved September 26, 2017.
10. "Dakoda Armstrong Aiming For 2018 XFINITY Series Return". www.frontstretch.com. 19 November 2017. Retrieved 2017-11-20.
11. Aaron Bearden (July 17, 2018). "Raphael Lessard earns redemption with Redbud 400 win". Short Track Scene.
12. "Santos doubles up with sprint win at LOR". United States Auto Club. June 18, 2021.
13. "Swanson finds missing puzzle piece in Hoosier Classic sprint win". United States Auto Club. August 15, 2021.
14. Ken de la Bastide (May 29, 2022). "Roahrig claims second Little 500 victory over Dakoda Armstrong". Yahoo!.
15. Ken de la Bastide (October 23, 2022). "Roahrig claims IRP Sprint Car Tour event". Yahoo!.
16. "The fun way: Santos 10th to 1st to win Carb Night midgets". United States Auto Club. May 28, 2022.
17. "Dakoda Armstrong – 2012 NASCAR Nationwide Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 7, 2023.
18. "Dakoda Armstrong – 2013 NASCAR Nationwide Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 7, 2023.
19. "Dakoda Armstrong – 2014 NASCAR Nationwide Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 7, 2023.
20. "Dakoda Armstrong – 2015 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 7, 2023.
21. "Dakoda Armstrong – 2016 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 7, 2023.
22. "Dakoda Armstrong – 2017 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 7, 2023.
23. "Dakoda Armstrong – 2011 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 7, 2023.
24. "Dakoda Armstrong – 2012 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 7, 2023.
25. "Dakoda Armstrong – 2013 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 7, 2023.
26. "Dakoda Armstong – 2009 NASCAR Camping World East Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
27. "Dakoda Armstrong – 2009 ARCA Re/Max Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
28. "Dakoda Armstrong – 2010 ARCA Racing Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
29. "Dakoda Armstrong – 2011 ARCA Racing Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
30. "Dakoda Armstrong – 2016 ARCA Racing Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved May 6, 2020.

External links

• Official website
• Dakoda Armstrong driver statistics at Racing-Reference