Caleb Tops Battle Of Armstrongs To Take Little 500

ANDERSON, Ind. – In perhaps the most thrilling finish in the history of the Little 500, Caleb Armstrong made a last-lap pass of his cousin Dakoda to win the 76th running of the non-winged sprint car classic Saturday night at Anderson Speedway.

The 31-year-old Armstrong, part of a prominent Indiana corn- and grain-farming family, laid in wait in second place for the final 100 laps at the quarter-mile bullring before getting his opportunity to pounce on a green-white-checkered finish.

With Dakoda running light on fuel, Caleb got his best restart of the night on lap 499, staying right on the rear nerf bar of his older cousin as the white flag waved over the field.

Dakoda got loose off of turn two on the final lap, and as the rear end of his white-and-green sprint car fishtailed on the backstretch, Caleb darted to the inside groove with momentum and completed a stunning move for the victory.

Caleb then brought the field around turns three and four to the finish line, reaching the flagstand .261 of a second in front for his first Little 500 triumph in his 11th start.

“I’ve had so many tries here and I just always came up short. It feels so good to finally get this one,” said Caleb Armstrong, who banked $25,000 as the winner. “My first pit stop, I actually stumbled into the pits because we ran it out of fuel, but we got it done and I can’t thank [car owner] Randy Neal enough. I feel like we should have had at least three of these by now.

“What a race. I didn't know if I could do it. He was fast,” added Caleb of his cousin. “I was having fun with him out there. I was trying to intimidate him, trying to rattle his cage a little bit … bumping him and pulling up beside him, trying to scare him because honestly, I thought he was better than me. I just had a really good run there at the end, and it stuck.

“I can’t believe it. We finally won the Little 500!”

From a historical perspective, Saturday night marked the second last-lap pass in Little 500 history and the first since 1953, when Bob King passed Jonnie Key on lap 500 in 1953 when the historic quarter mile was known as Sun Valley Speedway.

Though he led laps 186 and 187 during a pit cycle under caution, Armstrong became the first Little 500 winner ever whose only green-flag lap led was the final one.

Saturday’s race got off to a stuttering start, with seven cautions in the first 110 laps, but once some green flag runs were finally established it became the traditional war of attrition and survival that the Little 500 is traditionally known for.

Davey Hamilton Jr. had just taken the lead when he was collected in a multi-car incident on lap 176, which also hampered the race of two-time winner Tyler Roahrig and others in the process.

That led to the first round of pit stops for the leaders, which saw Shane Hollingsworth stay out and become the point man by a full lap when full pace resumed at lap 191.

Hollingsworth’s first stop came once Hamilton spun again on lap 218, after contact with rookie Colin Grissom in turns three and four scuttled any remaining chances that Hamilton may have had to rebound.

That put the lead in the hands of three-time winner Kody Swanson, who controlled the race comfortably and opened up a second-and-a-half lead despite pressure from Emerson Axsom. That order continued until a right-front suspension issue sent Axsom hard into the wall in turn-two, causing terminal damage.

Axsom finished 21st after his crash on lap 327, when he was running second in the 33-car field.

Swanson pitted under that yellow, with 166 laps remaining, handing the top spot to defending winner Jake Trainor. Trainor ended up on his own lap by the time a lap-341 restart took place, quickly opening up a half-straightaway lead.

The 19-year-old appeared solidly out front over the next 50 laps, but was collected with Colin Grissom in turn three on lap 391 and crashed into the outside wall, squashing his hopes of a Little 500 repeat.

That turning point was when Dakoda Armstrong moved into the race lead, though that lead became tenuous after a red-flag stoppage with 84 to go when event rookie Jackson Macenko spun into the turn-four water barrels – which spread fluid across the track in the final corner and led to extensive cleanup.

From there, it was the cousins Armstrong in first and second the rest of the way, despite a spin by 2020 winner Bobby Santos III in turn two with 14 laps left that brought the race down to a five-lap sprint.

Three of those laps ticked by under green before a crash involving Kyle O’Gara and Tony Main on the frontstretch, setting up the race-defining green-white-checkered finish.

Dakoda Armstrong tipped afterward that his team did not get the car completely full of fuel during his final pit stop, leading to a momentary sputter and his handling issues on the final lap.

“I just wanted one of us to be there at the end, but I thought it was going to be my car. There was a lot of drama at the end, said Dakoda. “We thought we were going to run out of fuel; we didn’t get enough in it, and I was doing all I could to save that whole last run. I was conserving and the tires just kind of got away from me. It hiccupped a little bit there off [turn two] and I spun the tires.

“That was about as good as I could have hoped for. When I saw them wrecked there with two to go, I was pretty sure I was going to be stopped out of fuel before it was all over. We made it, though.”

Swanson finished third, the final car to complete all 500 laps, with Roahrig rallying back to fourth and Billy Wease closing the top five.

Past NASCAR Cup Series star Ryan Newman crossed sixth in his second Little 500 start. Fourth through sixth were one lap down at the checkers, with Santos finishing two laps behind in seventh after his late spin.

Despite being around much of the chaos Saturday night, Grissom ended up 12th and earned Little 500 rookie-of-the-year honors.

The former Kenyon Midget Series champion and 11-time midget winner, a hometown Anderson native, completed 485 laps in the backup Ernie Gorman Racing entry prepared by veteran Travis Welpott.

Pre-race favorite Justin Grant’s race ended after just 83 laps Saturday night due to engine issues for the famed No. 69 Hoffman Auto Racing/Dynamics Inc. machine. He was credited with 27th place.

The results:

1. 7-Caleb Armstrong, 2. 1-Dakoda Armstrong, 3. 77-Kody Swanson, 4. 56-Tyler Roahrig, 5. 80-Billy Wease, 6. 39-Ryan Newman, 7. 22-Bobby Santos III, 8. 20-Shane Hollingsworth, 9. 67-Kyle O’Gara, 10. 51-Logan Seavey, 11. 18-Shane Butler, 12. 78-Colin Grissom, 13. 64-Trey Burke, 14. 74-Tony Main, 15. 27-Chris Jagger, 16. 24-Jackson Macenko, 17. 6-Bryan Gossel, 18. 29-Jake Trainor, 19. 8-Travis Welpott, 20. 5-C.J. Leary, 21. 4-Emerson Axsom, 22. 14-Davey Hamilton Jr., 23. 92-Anthony Nocella, 24. 53-Justin Harper, 25. 96-Scott Hampton, 26. 41-Donnie Adams Jr., 27. 69-Justin Grant, 28. 87-Brady Allum, 29. 99-Garrett Saunders, 30. 93-Jerry Kobza, 31. 32-Jeff Bloon, 32. 42-Rob Keesling, 33. 44-Scotty Adema.

Lap Leader(s): Axsom Grid, D. Armstrong 1-85, Axsom 86-172, Hamilton Jr. 173-175, Axsom 176-185, C. Armstrong 186-187, Hollingsworth 188-227, Swanson 228-334, Trainor 335-390, D. Armstrong 391-499, C. Armstrong 500.