Rookie Driver Will Look to Veteran Crew Chief for Guidance
This weekend, Dakoda Armstrong will make his second start at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He has one previous start at the mile-and-a-half track in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, where he earned a 16th-place finish. The New Castle, Ind., native will once again don rookie strips as he makes his first NASCAR Nationwide Series start at the place they dub “Sin City.”
Armstrong will look to veteran Crew Chief, Philippe Lopez, to guide him this weekend. Lopez has 12 starts at Las Vegas between the top-two premier series in NASCAR, earning a top-10 finish in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series in 2001 with driver Ron Hornaday, Jr. In the NASCAR Nationwide Series, Lopez’s best start came in 2013 with Reed Sorenson driving the No. 43 Ford Mustang and his best finish was 13th in 2012 with Michael Annett behind the wheel.
This weekend, @DakodaArmstrong makes his 1st start @LVMotorSpeedway in #43 @WinFieldInsight Ford in @NASCAR_NNS & 2nd #NASCAR start at track.
@DakodaAmstrong will look to veteran Crew Chief Philippe Lopez for guidance as he makes his second career start at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and his first start at the mile-and-a-half track in the NASCAR Nationwide Series.
“I’m looking forward to Las Vegas, there’s always so much hype surrounding this race just because it’s Vegas and we go there once a year. I raced at Vegas once in the trucks last year and finished 16th, and Philippe (Lopez) and I have talked about the track’s characteristics and the best way to get around it. We’ve been talking strategy, and I think we have a good plan in place for this weekend.”
“It’s been a lot of fun working with this team. The more races we have under our belt, the more comfortable we become with each other. This will be our first mile-and-a-half track so after this weekend we should have a good idea on where each of our programs are and determine what we have a good handle on and what we need to improve on.”
No. 43 WinField Ford
A performance and marketing driven company, Richard Petty Motorsports, co-owned by NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty and successful business entrepreneurs Andrew Murstein and Douglas Bergeron, is one of the most recognized brands in all of motorsports. With a history of over 200 wins and business partnerships with national and global leaders, today the race operation fields two teams in competition in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Aric Almirola pilots the famous No. 43 Ford Fusion with primary partners Smithfield Foods, U.S. Air Force, STP, Strike Ten Entertainment and Fresh From Florida, and Marcos Ambrose drives the No. 9 machine with primary partners STANLEY, DEWALT, Mac Tools and Twisted Tea. In addition, Dakoda Armstrong wheels the No. 43 WinField Ford Mustang full-time in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. The team is headquartered in Concord, N.C.
