ANDERSON, Ind. — Dakoda Armstrong continued his string of strong performances at Anderson Speedway with a dominant victory in the Glen Niebel Classic.
Armstrong finished second a year ago in the Little 500 and ended the year with a victory in the 500 Sprint Car Tour Tony Elliott Classic.
The start of the Thursday night program was delayed for several hours by rain.
Following the redraw Armstrong started on the outside of the front row next to 2023 rookie of the year Jackson Macenko.
Macenko jumped into the lead at the start chased by Armstrong and hast qualifier Colton Bettis.
Armstrong showed patience in the early stages of the race looking several times to get inside of Macenko.
After the two raced side by side for several laps, Armstrong was able to get underneath Macenko on the back straight and steadily extended the lead.
The third and final caution flag waved on lap 54 when Davey Hamilton Jr. spun on the back straight.
Armstrong maintained the point and steadily pulled away from the remainder of the field with Macenko, Bettis, Tyler Roahrig and Kyle O’Gara all battling for a podium finish.
At the finish it was Armstrong winning by 4.7 seconds with Macenko scoring a career best second and Bettis coming home in third.
“We set up for the race at the shop,” Armstrong said. “The car was good starting with the practice sessions.
“The car was so tight,” he said. “I don’t know if it was the cold weather, but there was a lot of rubber put down on the track.”
Macenko said he had a good car for the race.
“The team has given me a car that is ready to compete,” he said. “I think we can turn it up a notch this year and compete with the best of them at every track.”
Bettis was making his first start for Aaron Pierce racing in preparation for the Little 500 on May 24.
“We had a pretty good car for qualifying,” he said. “The car was free during the race and I didn’t mess with the weight jacker during the race.”
Bettis topped qualifying in the Sam Pierce sprint car with a quick lap of 11.327 seconds which was good enough to top the 11.379 seconds posted by veteran competitor Tyler Roahrig.
The finish:
1) Dakoda Armstrong; 2) Jackson Macenko; 3) Colton Bettis; 4) Tyler Roahrig; 5) Kyle O’Gara; 6) Kody Swanson; 7) Bobby Santos III; 8) Matt Dimit; 9) Brian Vaughn; 10) Derek Bischak; 11) Landon Butler; 12) Justin Harper; 13) Brady Allum; 14) Davey Hamilton Jr.; 15) Taylor Ferns; 16) Tony Main; 17) Donnie Adams Jr.; 18) Nathan Byrd; 19) Rylan Gray; 20) Chase Locke
The finish:
Dakoda Armstrong, Jackson Macenko, Colton Bettis, Tyler Roahrig, Kyle O’Gara, Kody Swanson, Bobby Santos III, Matt Dimit, Brian Vaughn, Derek Bischak, Landon Butler, Justin Harper, Brady Allum, Davey Hamilton Jr., Taylor Ferns, Tony Main, Donnie Adams Jr., Nathan Byrd, Rylan Gray, Chase Locke, Scott Hampton.
