FONTANA, Calif. -- Having a new teammate, namely in a one-winner sport like the Sprint Cup Series, can be a daunting transition for some drivers -- easing into the relationship, gaining trust, learning to work together, etc.

Then again, if your new teammate is Juan Montoya the transition is fast-tracked and in your face. Aric Almirola -- in his first full Cup season with the recently merged Earnhardt Ganassi Racing -- wouldn't have it any other way.

“

Juan just pushed the ever-living daylights out of me for about three laps straight ...

”

ARIC ALMIROLA

"It's been a lot of fun having [Montoya] as a teammate just because of his personality alone, he's hungry," said Almirola, whose friendship with Montoya began just a week before this season's Daytona 500.

Still, off-the-track banter is no indication of how a teammate may treat another once on the track. But all questions were answered for Almirola early in the sport's biggest race.

"We were toward the back and both of us had just pit and were on fresh tires," Almirola recalled. "Juan just pushed the ever-living daylights out of me for about three laps straight and we went from 27th to the top 15. We were flying."

Almirola said he had to hang on tight.

"He was hitting me so hard," Almirola said as he laughed. "Most people would nudge you, but Juan would slam me and it was so funny. I had a smile from ear to ear inside my helmet because he was pushing me so hard. We were going to the front and it was cool to have his help."

Almirola was the victim of a late-race spin, otherwise he would've have enjoyed returning the favor.

The third and most-experienced driver in the Earnhardt Ganassi Racing stable, Martin Truex Jr., is optimistic about the progress the new team has made.

During the offseason, it appeared the merger between team owners Chip Ganassi and Teresa Earnhardt produced more questions than answers. The driver lineup was in question and sponsorship concerns remain.

“

We have a good group of core people ... we will keep working through things as a team.

”

MARTIN TRUEX JR.

Nevertheless, the team is taking shape. Crew chiefs are working together, Truex sat on the pole for the Daytona 500 and Almirola, still without full-time funding, will have a sponsor for the Las Vegas race next week.

"We have a good group of core people, we just need to get a little bit of time, get some things going and hopefully come up with some stuff that works for all of us to where we can work together even better," Truex said.

Montoya, who lacked the benefit of a veteran teammate his first two seasons at Ganassi, is overly excited about the opportunities that lie ahead.

"I will tell you that the atmosphere at the team is great," Montoya said. "I think that people are really pumped up about it. Working with Martin and Aric has been really cool. It started really good, we get along really well."

Montoya said the drivers want to work together.

"That is huge," he added. "A lot of times you go to teammates and they really don't want to help. Like in the [Daytona 500] if I saw Martin, I would try to help him. If he saw me he would try to help me. It worked really well and I'm really pumped up about it."

Truex said the three cars in the stable are still fairly different from each another, but that is expected to change as the season progresses and crews assemble and prepare the cars under one roof.

"We haven't seen a whole lot yet," he said. "I think we will keep working through things as a team. We will figure what each other likes and doesn't like. Hopefully, one of us will come up with a combination that works really well and we can all adapt to it. That is the plan. So we will just see where it goes."