Starting Position: 17
Finishing Position: 12
Aric Almirola earned his fifth top-15 finish of the season at Charlotte Motor Speedway Saturday in a Smithfield Ford Fusion that was racy all night.
The driver of the No. 43 started the 500-mile event in the 17th spot, quickly advancing to 12th position by Lap 11 when an early caution flag waved for a spinning Matt Kenseth.
The first 35 laps of the race saw two additional cautions for accidents, and by the third yellow flag, Almirola was up to 10th in his fast Ford Fusion. He gave up his top-10 spot to come to pit road for a routine but quick stop, putting him in 18th for the restart.
Almirola didn’t stay back there long, as he started making fast laps once again, passing four cars to get up to 14th by Lap 60. Despite his fast lap times and forward progress, he asked crew chief Todd Parrott for a little help with the car’s handling through the turns. The team responded with chassis and air-pressure adjustments during their next two pit stops.
As the race approached the half-way mark, Almirola was holding steady in the top-15, but still asking for help with the front tires sliding through the turns. With the field under yellow for a debris caution on Lap 168, Parrott brought his driver down pit road for more chassis and air-pressure adjustments to help him be more aggressive off the corners.
The second half of the race saw more green-flag racing than the first — in fact, the final 107 laps went caution-free — which strung the field out and made it difficult to pass for position. But that did not hold back the No. 43, with Almirola gradually chasing down and passing cars over the long runs.
He was in 11th and pushing into the top 10 with fewer than 30 laps to go. But at this time, concerns throughout the field about making it to the finish on fuel forced one last shuffle on the leaderboard, as one by one cars peeled off to pit for gas. Almirola’s was among the cars that could not make it to the end without a late refueling stop, and he brought his Smithfield Ford to the pits for a quick stop for right-side tires and fuel on Lap 312.
He rejoined the field scored in 16th, but climbed back up to 12th and maintained his position until crossing the finish. His 12th-place finish allowed him to maintain 21st place in the driver point standings.
Comments from Almirola after Charlotte:
“We had a fast Smithfield Ford Fusion right off the truck when we got here, and Todd (Parrott) and the guys did a great job on it. We had to keep adjusting with the track over the course of the race, but we were solid all night. I told the guys on the radio afterward, we’ve had some fast cars recently where, unfortunately, we didn’t really have the results to show for it. It’s nice to get a good result to show for all the hard work that went into putting a fast car on track this time.”
About Richard Petty Motorsports:
A performance and marketing driven company, Richard Petty Motorsports, co-owned by NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty and successful business entrepreneurs Andrew Murstein and Douglas Bergeron, is one of the most recognized brands in all of motorsports. With a history of over 200 wins and business partnerships with national and global leaders, today the race operation fields two teams in competition in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Aric Almirola pilots the famous No. 43 Ford Fusion with primary partners Smithfield Foods, U.S. Air Force and STP and Marcos Ambrose drives the No. 9 machine with primary partners Stanley and DEWALT. In addition, Michael Annett wheels the No. 43 Pilot Flying J Ford Mustang full-time in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. The team is headquartered in Concord, N.C.
Source: Breaking Limits Marketing for Richard Petty Motorsports, Press Release
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