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Notes of Interest |
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● History at Dover: In 17 NASCAR Cup Series starts at Dover (Del.) International Speedway, Almirola has earned four top-10 finishes, two top-fives and he’s led 86 laps. o In the 2010 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race, Almirola visited victory lane after leading seven laps at the Monster Mile. o Almirola has four starts in the Xfinity Series with a best finish of ninth.
● Weis Markets will join the No. 10 livery for the first time on the rear-quarter panels, decklid, and an accented red No. 10. To learn more about Weis Markets click here. On April 22, Almirola unveiled his No. 10 Smithfield/Weis Ford Mustang via stream in conjunction with a Weis Market grand opening in Gap, Pennsylvania.
● Career Stats: Almirola has career totals of two wins, two poles, 24 top-five finishes, 80 top-10s and 842 laps led in 364 NASCAR Cup Series starts.
● Smithfield Foods celebrates 10 years of partnership with Almirola this season with a special campaign called Taste Victory.As one of the most active partners in NASCAR, Smithfield plans to engage fans all year long by hosting a microsite that provides the opportunity to win when Almirola wins or finishes inside the top-10. When Almirola wins, one fan wins $10,000, and 10 fans win a gift card for each top-10 finish. The microsite also doubles as an Aric Almirola fan page and entertainment source where fans can get behind the wheel of the No. 10 Smithfield Ford with a custom racing game, and learn more about Almirola with fast facts, favorite recipes and custom content about his life on and off the track. Visit www.tastevictory.com to learn more. Thanks to Almirola’s Feb. 11 win in his Duel qualifying race for the Daytona 500, one lucky fan has already won $10,000.
● Beyond the 10 YouTube Series:In 2021, Almirola continues to share his life beyond the No. 10 Smithfield Ford with season three of his award-winning YouTube series. Fans and media can subscribe on YouTube to see Almirola’s personality on and off the track. Episodes have already featured life as a dad, a husband and an athlete, and it gives fans a unique perspective on what goes on in the life of a professional NASCAR driver. Fans can also follow Almirola’s social media channels: @Aric_Almirola on Twitter and Instagram, and @AricAlmirola on Facebook.
● The Smithfield Ford team sits 28th in the championship standings with 168 points, 361 behind leader Denny Hamlin.
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Aric Almirola, Driver of the No. 10 Smithfield/Weis Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing |
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What is your mindset heading to Dover – another event for the 750-horsepower package?
“We had a shot to win there in 2018 and we know we’re capable of running up front. I really enjoy Dover. I would say it’s one of, if not my favorite, tracks on the circuit. We’ll be starting toward the back this weekend without qualifying, so we’ll have to grind again to make our way to the front and hope we don’t get caught up in anything early. Our 750-horsepower packages are really good this year and we’ve been able to bring fast cars to the 750-package tracks. When we finally had a clean race with no bad luck at Richmond, we finished sixth. We had a fast car at Phoenix, too, and rallied back from a speeding penalty to finish 11th. I’m optimistic for this weekend and excited to get out there and get us back on track.”
With no practice or qualifying, talk about how difficult this makes it on teams.
“In years past when we could go practice and qualify and do all of those things, if you had a bad weekend, as soon as that weekend was over, you debrief about it Monday (and) Tuesday. Then your focus is next week, going forward, and you literally forget about last week. If you unload and your car’s fast and you qualify in the top-five, then you’ve got a great starting spot for next week’s race. Last year, being on the opposite end and being up in the points and finishing good most times – even when we didn’t finish good, we were still up so high in points that we would still start in the top-15. It certainly makes a lot of difference. Things are a lot easier going into that next weekend. And the situation we are in right now makes it a lot harder to claw out of it.”
What happened at Darlington?
“Another day mired by bad luck. We had such a fast Smithfield Ford Mustang and were blazing through the field in just six laps. Then we got wrecked by the No. 47 and our day was over. It was a day filled with a lot of confidence, but we’re shaking it off and are fully focused on the challenge ahead. We know we have some good notes for Darlington when we go back there in September.”
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