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Dalton Armstrong dominated the RedBud 300 at the Anderson Speedway by leading 280 of 300 laps in route to his first victory in the historic event.

Despite a brief run of laps led by two-time winner Johnny Vandoorn after the halfway break, Armstrong would retake the lead on Lap 170 and remain virtually unchallenged for the remainder of the night.

Armstrong survived two late restarts with five laps to go but victory was never in doubt as he took a commanding lead into Turn 1 each time. The first saw Bubba Pollard endure a slow restart and eventually tangle with William Byron on the exit of Turn 2.

The second attempt saw Armstrong simply drive away from Wes Griffith and allowed the younger brother of NASCAR driver Dakoda Armstrong to celebrate his second CRA victory of the season. Armstrong was so dominant that at several points of the race that he actually led by half a track over his nearest competitor.

In fact, Armstrong said he never once thought of conserving in the second half.

“I felt like the harder I drove the car, the better off I was,” Armstrong said. “Like, I felt like it drove worse whenever I tried to back off. So I kept a decent pace without abusing the tires. I just had the perfect car to dominate a race really.”

Armstrong entered the event 41 points behind Cody Coughlin in the ARCA CRA Super Series championship standings. This combined with a Coughlin crash on Lap 57 will tighten the standings considerably.

Armstrong hopes winning a race like the Redbud and contending for the championship will help him find the support needed to advance to NASCAR.

“I really just need someone to come along and have faith in me and get some money behind me so I can do K&N or Trucks,” Armstrong said. “Something to move up.”

Griffith finished second but was quick to admit it was through good luck as much as anything else. He was awarded second when Pollard and Byron tangled in front of him. As a result, he was thrilled to celebrate a runner-up on Saturday night.

“I got up beside him at the line but he was pretty much gone by 1 and 2,” Griffith said of Armstrong on the final restart. “So I just dropped in and followed him. Lady luck was on our side and things just fell our way.”

The complete results of the 50th Redbud 500 can be viewed below.

RedBud 300 Results

  1. Dalton Armstrong
  2. Wes Griffith Jr.
  3. Steve Dorer
  4. Rick Turner
  5. Bubba Pollard
  6. William Byron
  7. Jack Dossey III
  8. Cole Anderson
  9. John VanDoorn
  10. Eddie VanMeter
  11. Tom Woodin
  12. Trevor Noles
  13. Stephen Nasse
  14. Fred Hopkins
  15. Brett Robinson
  16. Brandon Oakley
  17. Dalton Sargeant
  18. Trent  Snyder
  19. Cody Couglin
  20. Ryan Isaacs

Matt Weaver is the owner and founder of Short Track Scene. Weaver grew up in the sport, having raced himself before becoming a reporter in college at the University of South Alabama. He also has extensive experience covering NASCAR, IndyCar and Dirt Sprint Cars.

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