ANDERSON, Ind. — Caleb Armstrong led only one lap, but it was the one to bring him victory in the 76th Little 500.
Caleb Armstrong passed his cousin Dakoda Armstrong on the final lap with an inside pass entering turn three.
Dakoda Armstrong appeared headed to his first victory when the race was slowed twice by caution flags in the final ten laps.
Armstrong’s victory by .261 seconds was the closest finish in the history of the race.
The victory came in his 11th Little 500 and came after a runner-up finish in 2023.
Caleb Armstrong started ninth in the field and ran inside the top ten for the entire race.
Armstrong led the final 108 of the final 109 laps to finish second with Kody Swanson coming home in third.
The caution flag waved on lap 487 when Bobby Santos III spun on the back straight creating a shoot-out to the finish with Dakoda Armstrong in the lead chased by Caleb Armstrong and Kody Swanson.
The 14th caution flag waved on lap 498 when Kyle O’Gara and Tony Main tangled on the front straight which kept the outcome of the race unknown.
Caleb Armstrong said a year ago he thought he had a win until he ran out of fuel and lost several laps while pitting.
“I thought I could pull inside of him following the last restart,” he said of the pass for the victory. “We were both going for the win.
“This is awesome,” Caleb Armstrong said. “I’ve thought we should have had a few of these under our belts.”
Dakota Armstrong said early in the race there was a concern not enough fuel was in the car and he was running in conservation mode.
“The car was really, really good,” he said. “It was frustrating to have the late cautions. The car was the tightest it had been late in the race.”
Swanson said the team made some changes for the race and still has some work to do.
He said the car was really good early in the race.
“Lapped traffic is always tough during this race,” Swanson said. “We just got to get better and tried something new.”
Dakota Armstrong started from the outside of the front row and charged into the lead at the start leading the first 85 circuits.
Armstrong ran with the lead pack throughout the race and had flawless pit stops to put him into contention for the victory.
Anderson’s Colin Grissom, a late entry for the race on Friday, earned rookie of the year honors with a 12th-place finish after starting 28th.
The decisive moment in the race took place when leader Jake Trainer looking for a repeat victory was caught up in a lap-390 incident with a lapped car and came to a stop against the turn four wall.
Trainor was the only driver on the lead lap after not stopping for his final pit stop on lap 327 but the driver on the move was Armstrong getting back on the lead lap on the 379th circuit.
The race was red-flagged on lap 416 when leading rookie contender Jackson Macenko crashed in turn four which set up the run to the checkers.
It was a slow start to the 76th running of the Little 500 with the red flag waving on lap one when Scotty Adema crashed into the third turn wall.
There were six caution periods in the first 100 laps with Armstrong leading the first 85 circuits.
Pole sitter Emerson Axsom then took the lead and gave way to Davey Hamilton Jr. on lap 173.
Axsom who was fast all week had his race end on lap 326 when it appeared a suspension piece broke sending him into the turn one wall.
Hamilton lost the lead on lap 176 when he was involved in an incident with rookie Anthony Nocella and Tyler Roahrig.
Shane Hollingworth took the point when all the leaders pitted at that point in time and gave way to Kody Swanson on lap 228 after making his first of two required pit stops.
Swanson led until lap 334 when the leaders pitted which gave the lead to Trainor.
The finish:
1) Caleb Armstrong; 2) Dakoda Armstrong; 3) Kody Swanson; 4) Tyler Roahrig; 5) Billy Wease; 6) Ryan Newman; 7) Bobby Santos III; 8) Shane Hollingsworth; 9) Kyle O’Gara; 10) Logan Seavey; 11) Shane Butler; 12) Colin Grissom; 13) Trey Burke; 14) Tony Main; 15) Chris Jagger; 16) Jackson Macenko; 17) Bryan Gossel; 18) Jake Trainor; 19) Travis Welpott; 20) CJ Leary; 21) Emerson Axsom; 22) Davey Hamilton Jr.; 23) Anthony Nocella; 24) Justin Harper; 25) Scott Hampton; 26) Donnie Adams Jr; 27) Justin Grant; 28) Brady Allum; 29) Garrett Saunders; 30) Jerry Kobza; 31) Jeff Bloom; 32) Rob Keesling; 33) Scotty Adema