STRONG START: ARMSTRONG WINS USAC EASTERN FOCUS SPECIAL AT AUBURNDALE
Winter Haven, Florida (February 10, 2023)………For Dakoda Armstrong, a return to USAC Eastern Focus Midget victory lane was in order on Friday night at Florida’s Auburndale Speedway.
The 2004 USAC Kenyon Midget titlist and former NASCAR Xfinity and Camping World Truck Series wheelman took over the lead on lap five from early race leader Chris Lamb, then led the remaining distance of the 50-lapper to earn the victory in a non-points special winged event for the series.
Prior to last July’s victory, it had been 14 years since Armstrong (New Castle, Ind.) last experienced a USAC victory lane celebration. Now, just a mere six-and-a-half months later, he’s back in the win column.
Armstrong was followed to the finish line by Northeastern Midget Association regulars Jake Trainor (Medway, Mass.) and P.J. Stergios (Candia, N.H.) with Chris Lamb (Colfax, N.C.) and Chase Locke (Chester, N.H.) rounding out the top-five.
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USAC EASTERN FOCUS MIDGET SPECIAL EVENT RACE RESULTS: February 10, 2023 – Auburndale Speedway – Winter Haven, Florida
QUALIFYING: 1. Chase Locke, 1, Radical-12.737; 2. P.J. Stergios, 4, Seymour-12.759; 3. Todd Bertrand, 48, Bertrand-12.830; 4. Jake Trainor, 29, Seymour-12.977; 5. Brady Allum, 87JR, Allum-13.010; 6. J.T. Bierman, 5, Radical-13.104; 7. Dakoda Armstrong, 1A, Radical-13.150; 8. Chris Lamb, 9, Radical-13.201; 9. Hunter Wise, 47, Wise-13.289; 10. Dylan Coutu, 53, Coutu-13.289; 11. Jeremy Utley, 23, Utley-13.419; 12. Mack Leopard, 14, Leopard-13.462; 13. Ryan McCartney, 24, McCartney-13.765; 14. Caleb Edington, 74x, Edington-13.814.
FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Jake Trainor, 2. Ryan McCartney, 3. Chase Locke, 4. Dakoda Armstrong. NT
SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. P.J. Stergios, 2. Jeremy Utley, 3. Brady Allum, 4. Caleb Edington, 5. Chris Lamb. NT
THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Mack Leopard, 2. J.T. Bierman, 3. Todd Bertrand, 4. Hunter Wise, 5. Dylan Coutu. NT
FEATURE: (50 laps) 1. Dakoda Armstrong, 2. Jake Trainor, 3. P.J. Stergios, 4. Chris Lamb, 5. Chase Locke, 6. J.T. Bierman, 7. Mack Leopard, 8. Brady Allum, 9. Hunter Wise, 10. Ryan McCartney, 11. Dylan Coutu, 12. Caleb Edington, 13. Jeremy Utley, 14. Todd Bertrand. NT
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-4 Chris Lamb, Laps 5-50 Dakoda Armstrong.
NEXT USAC EASTERN FOCUS MIDGET SPECIAL EVENT RACE: February 11, 2023 – Auburndale Speedway – Winter Haven, Florida