Aric Almirola is eager to tackle the “Monster Mile” this weekend in the Sprint Cup Series second visit to the concrete track this season. Almirola will pilot the No. 43 Smithfield Ford at his favorite NASCAR track looking to revisit Victory Lane.
Almirola will make his ninth NASCAR start at the Dover (Del.) International Speedway this weekend. He has proven he can tackle the “Monster Mile” and win. He drove to Victory Lane in 2010 in the truck series. In his three Sprint Cup series starts, the Tampa, Fla., native posted his best finish of sixth in his ‘Cup debut at the concrete track in 2012. Veteran Crew Chief Todd Parrott has 32 starts at the Delaware track. He visited Victory Lane in 1998 with Dale Jarrett and posted 11 top-fives, 15 top-10s and 19 top-15 finishes in his career as a Sprint Cup crew chief.
This weekend, No. 43 sponsor, Smithfield, will donate 40,000 pounds of protein to Maryland Food Bank as part of the company’s Helping Hungry Homes program. Richard Petty, who has partnered with the Smithfield Helping Hungry Homes program to donate thousands of pounds of protein over recent years, will be at the Weis Markets in Windsor Mill, Md., to discuss the importance of these donations from Smithfield and to help raise awareness about the necessity of providing assistance to our neighbors in need.
Comments from Smithfield Ford Fusion Driver Aric Almirola:
“Dover is my most favorite race track to go to. I really enjoy racing there. The track is just a lot of fun to drive around and even more fun to race on. I get excite every time I go to Dover. I have had a lot of success there in the past, so hopefully we can run really well this weekend.
“Things can happen quickly at Dover and there is no where you can go. That’s the one thing about that place. The straightaways are even banked a lot, so everything funnels down. It is really narrow and you need pretty much all of the race track on the exit of the corner to be able to run fast laps. When something happens, it clogs up the racetrack in a hurry and stuff happens really fast and the next thing you know you could be in it. It is important to qualify well there, have good pit stops and run up front all day.
“I’m thrilled to have Smithfield on the car this weekend. We have done a few donations with them this season, and this weekend, Richard will help them give a local food bank 40,000 pounds of protein. I can’t even imagine being worried about where you will get your next meal, especially with a family, so I am proud to be a small part in Smithfield’s initiative to give protein, one of the most coveted foods, to local food banks around the country.”
Comments from Smithfield Ford Fusion Crew Chief Todd Parrott:
“Dover is a very tough track. The driver really has to fight it on every turn. Things happen in a hurry here, so it will be important to be up front and have good strategy during the race. We’ll work really hard on getting a good starting spot Friday and really work on getting a good setup in practice on Saturday. It’s very easy to go a lap down here, so we’ll make sure we make the right calls during the race so we can be there at the end.”
RPM PR
