Roahrig Gets Win No.5, Armstrong Clinches First 500 Tour Title
Roahrig Gets Win No.5, Armstrong Clinches First 500 Tour Title
By: Koty Geyer - KG Media
Tyler Roahrig capped off a strong 500 Sprint Car Tour season with his fifth-straight Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park victory Saturday afternoon. Meanwhile, a new series champion was crowned.
The Plymouth, IN driver took the lead with a two for one pass on Dakoda Armstrong and Kody Swanson on lap five and was on cruise control the rest of the way en route to another victory with the series.
Roahrig’s win in the season finale was win number five on the year, a feat that gave him an opportunity at his second 500 Sprint Car Tour championship even despite missing a race while being crowned champion in his Outlaw Super Late Model escapades. He is now five for six in 500 Sprint Car Tour races at IRP to go along with his triumph in the Hoosier Hundred with USAC Silver Crown back in May.
“It’s been phenomenal. We missed a race unfortunately but we had a great year here in this car and the No.24 (Outlaw SLM) car, we won the Hoosier Hundred here,” Roahrig said on the DirtVision broadcast. “We’ve had a great time.
“Bob (East) really helped me learn how to race here, I guess you could say. This is a Beast car and I wouldn’t drive anything other than a Beast car”
Meanwhile, the points battle came down to three drivers, with Dakoda Armstrong sitting as the points leader going into the day over Kody Swanson and Roahrig. After qualifying concluded, a top-five finish was all the New Castle, IN driver needed to clinch his first 500 Tour championship.
Dakoda Armstrong wins his first 500 Sprint Car Tour Championship - Rick Kimball Photo
A fifth-place finish was what clinched Armstrong the 2025 500 Sprint Car Tour championship, joining his two championship competitors in Swanson and Roahrig as the third champion in the series’ four year history. He won two races in 2025 at Anderson and Salem, but it was also consistency that helped him clinch the title – in nine races, he finished in the top-five in all but one race.
“I’m glad we were able to get it done. I didn’t focus on points at all this year until today,” said Armstrong. “I was feeling it, I knew we weren’t as good as we needed to be and with (Kody Swanson) being the king here, anything could happen.”
Armstrong spent much of the 2010s climbing the ladder in ARCA and NASCAR’s top three series’ before departing the NASCAR Xfinity Series before the end of the 2017 season and eventually returning to his open-wheel roots while working on the family farm. Eight years later, he is now a 500 Sprint Car Tour champion.
“I grew up open wheel racing, it’s really what I love. To come back and do it, I do it for fun. I enjoy it every time we’re at the racetrack. It’s a hobby I really like but I want to win. We want to come out here and compete and we’re glad we were able to get this championship.”
Taylorsville, NC’s Brady Allum is the 2025 500 Sprint Car Tour TTI Performance Rookie Of The Year.
Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park Official Results:
1. Tyler Roahrig
2. Bobby Santos III
3. Jake Trainor
4. Kody Swanson
5. Dakoda Armstrong
6. Jackson Macenko
7. Taylor Ferns
8. Jake McElfresh
9. Anthony Nocella
10. Donnie Adams Jr.
11. Rylan Gray
12. Brian Vaughn
13. Kyle Robbins
14. Justin Harper
15. Tony Main
16. Rob Keesling
17. Tony McVey
18. Chase Locke
19. Michael Lewis
20. Nathan Byrd
21. Garrett Saunders
22. Cory Buttler
23. Kevin Shelbo
24. Brady Allum
25. Kyle O’Gara
