Auto racing is a family sport both literally and figuratively. Speedways and sanctioning bodies promote themselves as a place where parents and their children can come and watch an exciting event in a healthy atmosphere. The competing race teams themselves, are sometimes comprised of parents and their children looking for extra speed to outrun the competition. And they work together as a family.

Seventeen year old Dakoda Armstrong belongs to one such group. The Armstrong family owned team competes in the United States Auto Club midget and sprint car classes throughout the Midwest.

We spoke during The Night Before The 500, one of the most prestigious USAC midget events of the season. The annual fifty-lap feature takes place at O’Reilly Raceway Park in Claremont, Indiana a paved half-mile-plus oval located a short drive from the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway. And as its name implies, the Indy 500 was only one day away.