| Aric Almirola (born March 14, 1984 in Tampa, Florida) is an American Stock car driver in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driving the #09 Miccosukee Indian Gaming Dogde for Phoenix Racing. Almirola attended the University of Central Florida working on a degree in mechanical engineering before leaving to pursue a career in racing.
Almirola began racing when he was eight years old, racing go-karts. At 14, he began racing nationally. He won the pole position in his debut in the World Karting Association race and finished fourth in the standings that year. Two years later, he moved up into modifieds and won several Rookie of the Year awards.
In 2002, Almirola moved to the NASCAR Sun Belt Weekly Racing Division and finished second in the Rookie of the Year standings. He followed that up with five pole positions in 2003. In 2004, he became one of the first drivers to participate in NASCAR's Drive for Diversity program. He ran the season at Ace Speedway, and won two races before finishing 11th in the points standings. He won five more races at the track in 2005, and made his Truck Series debut with Morgan-Dollar Motorsports and had two top-tens in four races.
For 2006, Almirola drove the #75 Spears Manufacturing Chevy for Spears Motorsports in the Craftsman Truck Series, as part of the JGR development program. He's also set to start seven Busch races this season, in the #19 Husqvarna Chevrolet, for Joe Gibbs Racing. He debuted the 19 at Richmond in May, starting 12th and finishing 32nd.
Almirola moved up to the Busch series full-time in 2007, driving the #18 and #20 Chevys for Joe Gibbs, driving the #18 and the #20 in seven races apiece. He won his second career pole award for the Orbitz 300 at Daytona, and the first he actually took the green flag after winning a pole, as his first pole at Milwaukee, he was forced to relieve the driving duties over to Denny Hamlin. He again won the pole at Milwaukee in 2007, but thought he was going to give up driving duties to Hamlin again. A late team decision allowed Almirola to start the race due to Hamlin not arriving before the start of the race. On lap 59 of the race, during a caution period, Hamlin took over for Almirola while Aric was running in the third place. Hamlin went on to win the race, but Almirola was credited with his first NASCAR Busch Series win because he was the driver who started the race. Almirola did not participate in team victory celebrations after the race as he had already left the track.
Following the incident at Milwaukee, Almirola departed Joe Gibbs Racing to join Dale Earnhardt Inc. following the sale of Ginn Racing. Almirola was named co-driver of the #8 United States Army Chevy in the 2008 Sprint Cup, sharing the ride with Mark Martin.
2012
On Saturday, April 21st, Farmland will unveil the details around its partnership with the legendary Richard Petty Motorsports NASCAR team for select Sprint Cup Series events in 2012. As part of the partnership, Farmland will feature Harvesters on the famous #43 Ford during their hometown NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at the Speedway this October and will make a significant donation to fight hunger in Kansas City. During the launch event, Farmland and Harvesters will join forces with "The King" and his team to unveil a new paint scheme.(RPM)(4-17-2012)
VeriFone will join Richard Petty Motorsports as the primary sponsor on the #43 Ford for one of NASCAR's wildest and most-watched races. The provider of secure electronic payment systems will be showcased on Aric Almirola's Ford Fusion at Talladega Superspeedway for the May 6 Sprint Cup Series event. The appearance will be the first NASCAR sponsorship for VeriFone, a San Jose, Calif.-based company that provides merchant-operated, consumer-facing and self-service payment systems for the financial, retail, hospitality, petroleum, government and healthcare industries. The sponsorship is the first for the team in the software category and first for VeriFone in NASCAR.(Richard Petty Motorsports)(4-25-2012)
- 43- Aric Almirola, Smithfield/Helping Hungry Homes and Eckrich announced that they will team up to race for charity. Almirola and Smithfield will compete this Thursday night in the Denny Hamlin Short Track Showdown at the Richmond International Raceway. The event is a 100-lap asphalt late model all-star race that will help raise awareness and funding for the specific needs of individuals afflicted with Cystic Fibrosis as well as other programs that support chronically ill children. The race is sanctioned by NASCAR. Almirola will also compete in the Prelude to The Dream dirt late model event hosted by Tony Stewart at the famed Eldora Speedway dirt track located in Ohio on Wednesday, June 6th. Eckrich will adorn Almirola's #43 dirt late model for the special that is televised live by HBO Pay-Per-View. The "Prelude" has grown to become one of the most seriously-challenged charity events motorsports stars compete in all year. The race benefits Feed The Children. Both Smithfield and Eckrich are in their first season as primary sponsors of Almirola and the #43 Richard Petty Motorsports team. They have now taken this next step to be more involved with Almirola and the charitable events of NASCAR.(Richard Petty Motorsports)(4-26-2012)
Aric Almirola and the No. 43 Ford team plan to mow down the competition at Darlington Raceway this week with a new partner: Gravely Professional Mowers. The maker of commercial lawn and garden equipment will see its bright red paint scheme on the team's Sprint Cup Series car for one of NASCAR's most historic races - Saturday night's Bojangles' Southern 500. The NASCAR partnership is the first for Gravely, which has been a power equipment workhorse since 1916. Gravely is part of Ariens Company, a fourth-generation, family-owned company based in Brillion, Wis., and sells a complete line of professional mowers and outdoor power equipment, including the legendary Sno-Thro, through a national dealer network. The company's partnership with Richard Petty Motorsports will also include endorsements of Gravely products by team owner and racing legend Richard "The King" Petty in sales displays and advertisements.(Richard Petty Motorsports)(5-9-2012)
Richard Petty Motorsports continues to introduce new partners to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in 2012. The latest company to unite with the legendary organization is Transportation Impact who will make their NASCAR debut as the primary sponsor of the #43 team and driver Aric Almirola during the Pocono 400 at the Pocono Raceway on June 10. The company is a parcel spend management firm headquartered in Emerald Isle, NC. A fast-growing, small business founded in 2008, Transportation Impact comes into the sport for the first time with Petty to help high-volume parcel shippers reduce cost through innovative audit and negotiation services, helping companies large and small identify and obtain savings they can then use to fund new initiatives, retain employees or hire new ones. The company was co-founded by Travis Burt and Keith Byrd. Co-owners Burt and Byrd are also anxious to work with the team. "When people see the Richard Petty brand, the first things that come to mind are being the best and doing so with integrity," said Burt. "As a business owner, I always want my company to be the best, but only as long as success doesn't interfere with doing the right thing."(RPM)(5-15-2012)
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