Aric Almirola insists he was absolutely prepared to climb into his No. 43 Smithfield Ford this Sunday for the Pennsylvania 400 at Pocono Raceway completely focused on nothing other than scoring a victory and working toward earning a position in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.
But his public relations team brought up an important milestone that even he conceded was definitely worth noting, if not celebrating. This Sunday’s race marks the 32-year old Almirola’s 200th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start — a significant measure of his staying power and a testament to how far he’s come. Literally.
He is the son of a Cuban immigrant on his dad’s side of the family and the grandson of one of Florida’s most celebrated and accomplished racers — Sam Rodriguez — on his mom’s side. That has created a unique background dynamic that gives Almirola motivation and pride. And makes this weekend a heartfelt measure of success.
“I think here I am and my dad came over from Cuba and 50 years later I’m making my 200th start in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series for Richard Petty,” Almirola said. “It’s so crazy to me, what living in this country affords you and allows you to be able to do, and my grandparents made that decision to come over here and take this chance.”
The sheer number of starts represents a mark of opportunity for Almirola. Making it into NASCAR’s big league was always the harder path, the road less travelled.
But he has made it. And that’s only the beginning.
“I don’t think anybody dreams about running two hundred races, they dream about ‘a’ race,” Almirola said. “So as a kid I dreamed about driving ‘a’ Cup car, running ‘a’ race. So, now the fact I’ve had the opportunity to do it two hundred times, when you realize that, and the marketing department brings to your attention that, ‘Hey, Pocono is going to be your 200th start,’ it really makes you kind of reflect on everything that’s led up to this.
“From being a kid racing go-karts all the way up to all the opportunities I’ve had. I realize by reflecting on all that stuff how fortunate and blessed I am.”
The thing is, Almirola could have just as easily been a star baseball player as a winning NASCAR driver.
His native city of Tampa, Florida is a ballplayer’s town. It produced Wade Boggs and Lou Piniella. Both Dwight Gooden and Gary Sheffield graduated from Almirola’s Hillsborough High School.
A calendar year in this part of the country has traditionally been delineated by baseball and football seasons. That just makes Almirola’s success climbing the NASCAR ranks even more impressive.
“I was in somewhat of a hot bed there for athletes,” Almirola said smiling. “But I had a really strong passion for racing and I know that made me somewhat of an outsider at school growing up. When friends would ask, ‘Hey what are you doing this weekend?’ I’d say, I was going racing.
“That kind of separated me from a lot of kids at school — not in a bad way, I wasn’t an outcast in a negative way, but I didn’t have as close a relationship with kids at school because I didn’t go parties at their house Friday night after football games. I was always working on my race cars or go-karts and racing on the weekends.
“I wasn’t looking for something to do on the weekend. I already had it.”
“I was always going to be a NASCAR guy. My grandfather raced sprint cars, so obviously the open wheel path was there, too. He’d race at East Bay every Saturday night and occasionally travel around the country going to races. But every Sunday it was normal, to get up, eat breakfast, hang around the house and then watch the Cup race. That was routine around my parents and my grandparents. We love NASCAR.”
The result for Almirola has been a starring role driving his sport’s most iconic car — the No. 43 — for the sport’s biggest legend, Petty.
NASCAR’s crown jewel, Daytona International Speedway, is also Almirola’s “home track” and fittingly the venue he won his first Sprint Cup Series race in 2014, the Coke Zero 400 — exactly 30 years after his boss Petty scored his historic 200th victory at the track.
Consider this: Petty’s win total would be equivalent to Almirola winning every start he’s made.
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Though that remains the only Cup victory so far for Almirola, it was enough to propel him into the 2014 Chase and make him only more eager to return. His team’s best finish this year is a 12th-place in the season-opening Daytona 500. He’s had four top-15 showings — three in the season’s opening four races. He ranks 25th in points entering Pocono, hopeful to score a win in one of the remaining six races to set the 16-driver Chase field.
“I think the reality is we have struggled this season and you can tell by watching the race and looking at our results,” Almirola said. “This year has been a struggle and we can’t really put our finger on what’s wrong. People often ask what’s wrong and it sounds like a smart-aleck answer, but if I knew, we’d fix it.
“There are a couple places looking ahead that have been strong for us. Bristol comes to top of mind. We had a chance to win there a couple years ago battling with Carl Edwards. And then there’s (regular season finale) Richmond. Last year we went there kinda do or die to make the Chase and finished fourth, but had a really strong car and a legitimate chance to win that race, too. Those are kind of top of mind to me where we might go in and get a win.”
Listening to Almirola reflect on his first 200 races, there is both a fond memory of what it took to get to this point and a distinct urgency in his voice to succeed in a way worthy of the hard work already put in.
“Making my 200th start really forces me to reflect and when I do that and think about doing it for Richard Petty, who is very much an American icon. And I can’t help but reflect on my family, which has done so much and sacrificed so much to get me where I’m at,” Almirola said.
“It really is amazing.”
