RICHMOND, VA (September 10, 2016) - With the NASCAR XFINITY Series drawing near its inaugural Chase, Dakoda Armstrong and his JGL Racing team are in the hunt for one to the last spots in the coveted Championship format. Despite running the majority of the race near the top-10 on Friday night at Richmond International Raceway, Armstrong and his No. 28 Toyota would finish a disappointing 16th in the running of the Virginia 529 College Savings 250.
"That was a really frustrating finish for all of us," said Armstrong. "The guys on this JGL Racing team gave me a really good car. Our No. 28 Toyota was strong in qualifying and that carried over into race. The first half of the race the car was so good we didn't need any changes - just putting on fresh tires and adding fuel on our pit stops. Then on our last stop the car just changed so we don't know if it was a bad set of tires or what. It's just very frustrating as we definitely had a much better car than our finish shows and with this race to the Chase every position is so crucial."
With a strong No. 28 Toyota, Armstrong would start the 250 lap event from the ninth position. Once the green flag flew, Dakoda moved up into the eighth position where he would ride until the first caution of the night flew on lap 48. With no changes needed, Armstrong came down pit road for just four tires and fuel. Back to green flag racing, Dakoda would lose a few positions and settle in just outside the top-10.
A long green flag run would see Armstrong maintain his track position before a round of green flag stops around lap 150. Again with a solid No. 28 Toyota underneath him, Dakoda would come down for four tires and fuel. With the second caution of the night coming on lap 164, the JGL Racing crew would bring the No. 28 Toyota down pit road for one last time. The last 75 laps of the event would see Armstrong fall back a few spots as his handling seemed to have fallen off on his car. As he battled for valuable positions over the closing laps, Dakoda would come home in the 16th position when the checkered flag flew.
"Our car just went away right there on that last run," added Dakoda. "It seems it may have been a bad set of tires because it was just so odd to change like that. We needed to capitalize on tonight and gain some points to give us a chance in this Chase. We weren't able to do that and it will be extremely tough at this point for us. However, I know the guys on this team will give me another strong car next week in Chicago and we will give it our best shot."
The 16th-place finish would keep Armstrong in the 13th position in the overall NASCAR XFINITY Series drivers' standings - 20 points out of the top-12.
The NASCAR XFINITY Series will next head to Chicagoland Speedway for the running of the Drive for Safety 300. The 26th race of the NASCAR XFINITY Series season will be Saturday September 17th and can be seen LIVE on NBC at 3:00 pm ET. It can also be heard on Motor Racing Network (MRN) and SiriusXM Channel 90.