Almirola is finding his place in sport thanks to BBM

BROOKLYN, Mich. -- Aric Almirola has found himself a home with Billy Ballew Motorsports. Since joining the team midway through the 2009 season, he's posted 16 top-10 finishes, including a win at Dover in May.

For a driver searching for a permanent place to hang his helmet, Almirola said consistency is key to feeling comfortable. It seems to be helping, since his 12th-place finish at Texas snapped a six-race streak of top-10 finishes, leaving him 65 points behind current leader Todd Bodine heading into Saturday's VFW 200 at Michigan International Speedway.

"I think it helps a lot, just knowing you've got the same group of guys to work with every single weekend," Almirola said. "I'm driving the same trucks. We have a few trucks in the rotation and I've driven all of them. We continue to build a notebook together. You hear a lot of people talk about that stuff, but it's really important."

Almirola said a lot of that can be attributed to crew chief Richie Wauters.

"Me and Richie have been working together, just under a year, and it's finally gotten to where it's [comfortable] every weekend. So we're learning the things I like and we're incorporating those into the setups before we even leave the shop now. In the beginning of the year, we were showing up at the track and tweaking on things."

What that means, according to Almirola, is the ability to have a larger database on which to make setup decisions.

"We have a lot better baseline to go off when we show up at the race track," Almirola said. "And it shows. Our practices run a lot smoother, and a lot of times, we have really good trucks."

With the way he finished 2009, Almirola was carrying a ton of confidence into the offseason.

"It's been that way, right from the beginning of the winter," Almirola said. "Billy was like, 'Hey, you did a really good job for me last year. I want you to come back. We've got to find a sponsor.'"

That's where Graceway Pharmaceutical stepped up. (Continued)