The weather seemed a bit dicey as Dakoda Armstrong helped his father guide the big USAC Silver Crown car out of the trailer and on to the tarmac at Toledo (Ohio) Speedway.
As he went through all the steps necessary to prepare for the evening, Armstrong could be excused for being flooded with memories. In 2009, he signed in at the same track excited to compete in his first ARCA race. He was 17 years old and it was a crucial step toward realizing his ultimate dream. Now, 14 summers had passed and the married father of three was back.
On this night, climbing the motorsports ladder was the farthest thing from his mind. In so many ways Armstrong had come full circle. Now, he was doing something primarily for the love of it.
Was he bitter? Not really. Regrets? Well, who doesn’t spend a moment or two pondering the what ifs of life?
The essence of Dakoda Armstrong’s motorsports journey has a familiar ring to many of his peers. His is not just a tale of woe. As Armstrong can attest, time, marriage and children can change your perspective.
When he looks back on his racing career to date, he realizes matters were rarely black or white.
Today, what once commanded every ounce of his attention no longer holds sway over other life demands. Racing may not be the priority it once was, however, rest assured, his thirst for speed and desire to compete still has a strong heartbeat.
Like others who turn racing into a profession, Armstrong started early and made steady progress through the ranks.
“My first kart race was in Muncie (Ind.),” he recalled. “We went to a practice session and it went well. So we came back and I won the first race I ever ran. It was instant addiction.”
It was soon a family affair. Joining him for his first race was his cousin Caleb, and his brother, Dalton, soon followed suit.
“I did a lot when I was young,” he said. “So, I got a lot of experience.”
The wins came in bunches and he made a logical move to the Kenyon midgets. He then eased into midget racing in the USAC regional series and added sprint cars to his plate. Signature wins came in 2007 at the Performance Racing Industry Mopar Midget Classic in Orlando, Fla., and one year later he was the best in a 400-lap midget grind at Indiana’s Anderson Speedway.
The Armstrongs are deeply involved in agriculture and oddly enough that played a role in Dakoda’s racing career.
“We own about 2,800 acres, but we farm about 8,000 and we run a business called Farmer AG,” said Armstrong, who was born and raised in New Castle, Ind. “We also spray for customers and probably cover somewhere near 42,000 acres.”
The bottom line is they are extremely busy, but they also interact with a wide range of suppliers and end users. In short, they have always understood the importance of networking.
Dakoda Armstrong’s move to stock car racing began via an association with Ken Schrader. The relationship began when Schrader raced a Focus midget owned by the Armstrongs. Then, because of their agricultural connections, in this case the relationship between DuPont and Pioneer Seeds they were able to get a face-to-face interview with NASCAR team owner Rick Hendrick.
“We got the chance to sit down and talk about my career path and he told us that Schrader always has rides,” Armstrong said. “So we called him up and ran some ARCA races with him.”
In 2009, Armstrong made four starts in what is known today as the ARCA East series and earned one top-10 finish. It was enough to convince Team Penske to sign him to a development contract, which resulted in an ARCA drive with Cunningham Motorsports. Parker Kligerman had excelled with the team and with his departure a seat was available.
“I was in the right place at the right time to meet the right people and I got to do a lot of cool things after that,” Armstrong recalled.
Briggs Cunningham III and Kenny Scherer headed his new team. While Cunningham never sought publicity, he was a man with deep racing roots. His father, Briggs Cunningham Jr., was one of the founders of the Sports Car Club of America, competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and was at the helm of the yacht Columbia that captured the 1958 America’s Cup.