But RPM driver is shooting for a playoff-clinching win instead
SPARTA, Ky. — Aric Almirola was in a comfortable place this time last season. The No. 43 driver was on the heels of his first Sprint Cup Series win at Daytona International Speedway, a victory that locked him into the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.
The scenario looks much different for the No. 43 driver this year heading into Kentucky Speedway for the Quaker State 400 (Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN). Winless in 2015 and ranked 16th in the standings, Almirola sits on the delicate bubble of making the Chase — or falling just short.
“We just need to run like we’ve been running,” Almirola said Friday before the rain-shortened Sprint Cup Series practice at Kentucky. “We’ve got to execute and we’ve got to take advantage of everything we can.
“We’ve got to be more consistent like we have been and run top 15, and we can’t have any more mistakes from here to Richmond. We’ve got to finish races and can’t have any DNFs. We’ve got to put pressure on some of the guys ahead of us in points to hope they make mistakes.”
Almirola’s to-do list for the No. 43 team in the nine races before the Chase cut-off is long, but doesn’t vary too much from what they’ve already been doing. The Richard Petty Motorsports driver currently boasts an average finish of 18.1 and nine top-15 results, including a fifth-place finish at Dover. His consistency alone has given him an opportunity to earn a spot in the Chase on points — but a solidifying win would certainly ease the pressure for Almirola & Co.
However, Victory Lane will be a tall order this weekend, as the rough-and-bumpy Kentucky isn’t the easiest place to take the checkered.
“Having the bumps be as aggressive as they are here, you have to run your car higher or else the car bottoms out a lot,” Almirola said. “So with running the car higher it becomes a little bit more of a balance for the crew chiefs and engineers to get the car to ride across the bumps smoothly enough without being too harsh, but then to be able to get the car down and low to the race track in the corners, where it’s not as bumpy.
“The crew chiefs and engineers fight that and pull their hair out trying to figure out a good setup for here.”
Mother Nature has provided the teams with another hair-pulling situation, as rain has canceled and shortened practices for all three series since Wednesday. With limited practice sessions, the ever-growing possibility of “weepers” and the unknown of the new aero package that is debuting this weekend, Sprint Cup drivers will have their hands full come Saturday evening.
Almirola isn’t worried.
“At the end of the day we’re all professionals,” Almirola said. “Race car drivers will get in anything and go drive it, so we’ll adapt. That’s what we do. We adapt to however the car is driving from weekend to weekend or whatever rules package we’ve got. I think it’s important for the crew chiefs and engineers to get some laps and understand where their travels are gonna be, to understand how the car is gonna react to different changes compared to the different rules packages we’ve had in the past.
“I’m anxious. I’m excited to go drive it and I’m excited to see how the race is gonna play out, to be honest with you. I know the hope is that we’ll be able to race more side-by-side and pass each other, so I’m looking forward to seeing if that’s the case.”
As Almirola and the No. 43 team work to earn their first win this season, they’ll have the aid of a new sponsor: Armour Meats, a family brand of primary sponsor Smithfield Foods. The company will also host a sweepstakes in which a fan will win a trip for four to Homestead-Miami Speedway for the Sprint Cup Series season finale.
Click here to enter for a chance to win.