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[/media-credit]NASCAR Camping World Truck Series | Race Report
WinStar World Casino 400
Texas Motor Speedway | Race 7 of 22
Fort Worth, Texas (June 9, 2012)– Dakoda Armstrong and the No. 98 EverFi team traveled to Texas Motor Speedway for the seventh race on the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series schedule hoping to find success with “Protect The Harvest” riding on the hood. Rain showers covered the speedway nearly all day Thursday, cancelling the qualifying session for the WinStar World Casino 400. By virtue of current owner’s points, Dakoda Armstrong took the green flag in his Tundra from the 19th starting spot and maintained position through the halfway point. Fighting through loose handling conditions from the start, an unscheduled pit stop on Lap 80 handed Armstrong a two lap deficit that he was able to overcome en route to an 18th place finish.
The inclement weather that affected the speedway area sidelined practice for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) competitors until 8:00 pm CST on Thursday night when the track drying process was finally completed. With only one 90 minute session to dial in their Toyota Tundra, the EverFi crew worked double time to find a solid race setup for Armstrong to work with for 250 miles of racing.
Reporting to crew chief Dan Stillman early in the night that the EverFi Tundra was not gripping the track and was too loose for his liking, Armstrong was able to hold his own before the first round of pit stops. But even after several stops and major adjustments, the ThorSport Racing driver was still struggling with a loose race truck.
Shortly after the restart following the fourth caution of the night, Armstrong radioed to his crew that he felt he had a tire going down. The pit crew went to work, quickly changing all four tires when their driver came down pit road one lap later. The unscheduled stop moved Armstrong two laps behind the leader, a hole that he raced hard to dig himself out of. As the recipient of the “lucky dog” under the final caution of the night, Armstrong moved back into the top-20 in the running order and was able to grab two more spots before the checkered to finish 18th.
“We never could get our EverFi Tundra to grip the track tonight,” Armstrong said.”I could barely turn the wheel in the corners without the back end wanting to step out and really couldn’t get going on restarts and for the first few laps, which just killed our momentum and let the rest of the field get away before our lap times evened out with them. I felt a tire going down about midway and that didn’t help us either.
“Dan Stillman and the crew never stopped working on it, but we’ll have to make some changes at the shop over the next two weeks to get us better before Kentucky. We had our best run yet there last fall, so I’m hoping we can just pick up right where we left off.”
Teammate Johnny Sauter’s victory on Friday night moved him ahead of Armstrong in the NCWTS driver point standings, moving the driver of the No. 98 EverFi Tundra back to 16th.The NCWTS teams will return to competition next at Kentucky Speedway on Thursday, June 28th, for the UNOH 225. Live SPEED Channel coverage of the event is scheduled for
7:30 pm EST.
Race Information WinStar World Casino 400 Friday, June 8, 2012 Texas Motor Speedway 1.5-Mile Quad-Oval 167 laps/250 miles/400 kilometers
Unofficial Results: Start: 19th Finish: 18th Status: Running Current Point Standings: 16th (-1)
Next Event: UNOH 225 Kentucky Speedway Thursday, June 28, 2012 SPEED Broadcast live at 7:30 PM EST
About EverFi, Inc.:
EverFi, Inc. is the leading education technology company to teach, assess, and certify students in critical skills. EverFi’s education learning platforms include Financial Literacy, Student Loan Management, Digital Literacy, Cyberbullying, and Alcohol Abuse Awareness. The company uses the latest technology, including rich media, high-definition video, simulation, diagrams and avatars. EverFi teams with major corporations and foundations to provide the programs at no cost to K-12 schools. For more information visit www.EverFi.com, Facebook.com/pages/EverFi , or Twitter.com/EverFi.
About Drive For Savings:
Drive For Savings (DFS) was founded as a fundraising company. DFS provides solutions to the lack of funding problem that most organizations face on a daily basis. Innovative fundraising programs are designed to meet the specific needs of any organization. The Drive For Savings programs are based on members of organizations selling discount cards. DFS cards are linked to a nationwide discount program that offers discounts at over 260,000 locations. The goal of Drive For Savings is to help organizations succeed by earning necessary funds. The DFS program will increase revenue without adding labor to any organization. Drive For Savings is proud to be part of a network that has been built over the past 27 years and has served over 15 million members.
About ThorSport Racing:
ThorSport Racing, based in Sandusky, Ohio, is the longest tenured active NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team. ThorSport Racing’s first came at the Milwaukee Mile on July 6, 1996. NASCAR’s only Ohio-based team, which has run full season schedules annually beginning in 1998, currently runs the No. 88 Menards Toyota Tundra driven by Matt Crafton, the No. 13 Hot Honeys/Curb Records Toyota driven by Johnny Sauter and the No. 98 EverFi Toyota driven by Dakoda Armstrong.
ThorSport Racing has wheeled into Victory Lane with Terry Cook, Matt Crafton, and Johnny Sauter since its inception and has finished a dominating eight times within the top 10 in points with both trucks. In 2011, ThorSport Racing moved into a state-of-the-art, world-class, 100,000 square-foot facility in Sandusky.
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