Meet Penske Racing’s Next “Big Thing”
It would be difficult, to say the least, to equal and/or surpass the achievements of rookie Parker Kligerman on the ARCA RE/MAX Series tour. Even the most experienced veterans haven’t put up numbers equivalent to Kligerman.
That doesn’t mean that ARCA rookie Dakoda Armstrong won’t try. Armstrong, a current high school senior in New Castle, Indiana, is the next development driver in line inside the powerful Penske Racing organization.
Armstrong is slated to start the 2010 season in Kerry Scherer’s no. 22 Cunningham Motorsports Dodge.
“We’re going to run the first couple for sure,” said Armstrong. “But kind of like Parker (Kligerman), it’s a sponsorship deal.”
Of course, Kligerman had a similar story at the start of 2009, announcing an eight-race program spread out over the entire season. But after the fourth race of the year, Kligerman found himself in the enviable position as point leader. Then, Kligerman won five of the next six races. Pretty soon, whether Cunningham Motorsports was saying so or not, he was in for the whole season. Ultimately, Kligerman, the 2009 Rookie of the Year, missed out on the championship by five points.
“We’ll definitely be testing in Daytona,” added Armstrong. “I’d absolutely love to run the whole season, but it’s not up to me.”
Armstrong made seven ARCA starts in 2009 with some solid results - most notably a career-best third place finish at Salem Speedway, right behind race winner Justin Lofton and his teammate Kligerman.
“Parker actually helped me a lot this year. We talked a lot. We raced midgets together. It was nice to have his help. It was huge for me.”
Armstrong, who had been running open wheel sprints and midgets, first caught the eye of NASCAR/ARCA veteran Ken Schrader, who fielded cars for Armstrong in the Camping World East Series for a few races in 2009. Schrader then put Armstrong in a second Schrader Racing car in the ARCA race at Toledo Speedway in May. Armstrong finished with mixed reviews in 20th while Kligerman went on to win his career-first ARCA race.
Nonetheless, the affiliation with Schrader opened the door at Penske Racing where Armstrong soon found himself.
“I met Kerry Scherer there (at Penske Racing). That provided the opportunity to meet Tim Cindric (President of Penske Performance, Inc.) and Mike Nelson (Vice President of Operations, Penske Racing). One thing led to the next.”
And the next thing for Armstrong would be his debut with Cunningham Motorsports at Iowa Speedway where he finished a respectable sixth. Armstrong finished out the year with Cunningham at Rockingham Speedway where he finished eighth after leading 15 laps.
“We ran really good at Rockingham, but the way that track eats tires, it was very challenging. We did good though and I learned a lot.”
Armstrong hopes to learn a lot more in 2010.
“The ARCA RE/MAX Series is the right place for me. I learned so much in just the handful of races we ran. I think the series was a big advantage to Parker. He got to run the whole thing, which only makes you a better driver. I mean, that series has it all - short tracks, speedways, the dirt, road courses. You can’t help but learn there, and I think that will pay huge dividends for Parker in the future. I hope I get that same chance.
“You can definitely tell who’s in good equipment around there, and who’s got experience. It was so much fun. Hopefully, we’ll run just as good as we left off. Now that I’ve experienced some of the tracks and what the cars feel like, we should be a lot better next year.
“It’s also nice to be able to get advice from guys like Frank Kimmel. He’s really a good guy. The series is very lucky to have him. He really helped me a lot - helped us a bunch at Salem. He showed me exactly where I needed to be through one and two there, and it helped a ton. He helped me every time I asked him, and that’s very valuable for a rookie like me.”
Armstrong will also have the good fortune to be working with veteran crew chief Paul Andrews.
“I learned a lot from Paul this year, and I know I’m going to learn a lot more from him next year. He’s a great guy, extremely smart; and he wants to win and so do I.”
For now, however, it’s back to the school books for Armstrong, who is finishing up his senior year in high school at Shenandoah High School in New Castle - reminiscent of another recent high school grad by the name of Parker Kligerman.
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