ANDERSON, Ind. – New Castle driver Dalton Armstrong was excited to finally get the monkey off his back by dominating Saturday night’s ARCA/CRA Super Series stop at Anderson Speedway.
That’s to a six-car inversion to start the Spring Fling 125 presented by Mitch Smith Automotive and Perfecto, Armstrong jumped into the lead with Kyle Crump trying to make the pass on the high side for the first five laps.
After 25 laps, Armstrong was pulling away from Hunter Jack, Greg Van Alst, Crump and fast qualifier Scotty Tomasik.
The running order remained unchanged for the next 75 laps with Cody Coughlin and Mason Keller retiring after 50 laps. Coughlin retired with an ill-handling race car and Keller dealt with a mechanical issue.
The race’s only caution flag waved on lap 109 when first-time competitor Ethan Standiczuk spun in turn two.
On the restart with Armstrong continuing to lead Van Alst and Tomasik powered around Jack on the inside. Jack fell back to fifth with Crump making the pass on lap 110.
At the checkers it was Armstrong winning by 1.4 seconds over Van Alst with Tomasik rounding out the podium.
“It feels good,” Armstrong said in Riley & Sons Victory Lane. “I didn’t want to see the caution. I knew I had a good car and wanted to have a strong restart.
“Once I cleared it was just hitting my marks,” he said. “It feels good to get a win at Anderson. We’ve had some bad luck the past few years.”
Van Alst said he was biding his time early in the race but might have waited until too late in the race.
“Once I got to the front there was some brake fade,” he said. “Normally there are a few more cautions.”
Tomasik was also trying to save his car until the closing laps after capturing his first fast time with CRA.
“I was hoping for more cautions,” he said.
The finish:
1. Dalton Armstrong; 2. Greg Van Alst; 3. Scotty Tomasik; 4. Kyle Crump; 5. Hunter Jack; 6. Michael Simko; 7. Brett Robinson; 8. J.P. Crabtree; 9. Andrew Scheid; 10. Jeff Whaley; 11. Ethan Standiczuk; 12. Mason Keller; 13. Kevin Gross Jr.; 14. Cody Coughlin.