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New Ride Giving Almirola Fewer Races Than Desired

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By TONY FABRIZIO, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 25, 2008

MOORESVILLE, N.C. - The good news for Tampa's Aric Almirola is that he will get to drive Dale Earnhardt Inc.'s high-profile No. 8 Chevy in 12 Sprint Cup races this year.

The bad news is that unless some sponsorship dollars start pouring in, he won't get to race nearly as much as he wants.

Almirola is content with his Sprint Cup schedule, but he was hoping to also run several races in the Nationwide and/or Craftsman Truck series. DEI does not have a program for him and nobody else has made him an offer.

"They're DEI working hard on trying to find some sponsorship for me to run some Nationwide races, but as of right now we don't have anything," Almirola said after a presentation of DEI's driver lineup at the team's headquarters. "It's disappointing for sure, but I understand the economy is not what it was. People are tight with their money right now."

Almirola signed with Ginn Racing in July to share the No. 01 Chevy with Mark Martin for the rest of the 2007 season and all of this season. Less than two weeks later, Ginn was absorbed in a merger acquisition by DEI. Under the DEI banner, Almirola made five starts in the No. 01 car, getting a best finish of 26th at Phoenix in November.

DEI's management assigned Martin and Almirola the No. 8 car and U.S Army sponsorship for this season. Martin got to choose his schedule, which left Almirola, who has bought a house in Mooresville, N.C., with the 12 races he didn't want to run.

Although Almirola's schedule has some of the most difficult, grueling or wreck-prone races (he gets the two road-course races, the two Talladega races and the four races at short tracks Bristol and Martinsville), he isn't complaining.

"Eventually I'll have to run those tracks anyway when I'm a fulltime Sprint Cup driver, so I may as well get used to them," he said.

Most drivers will begin their schedules in three weeks at Daytona, but Almirola, who won the pole for the Busch/Nationwide Series race at Daytona last year, does not have anything scheduled until the March 9 Sprint Cup race at Bristol. He said he's "very disappointed" he doesn't' have a ride for at least the Nationwide Series race at Daytona.

Almirola ran the full Craftsman Truck Series schedule in 2006 and competed in 27 races last year - six in Nextel/Sprint Cup (including one with a Joe Gibbs Racing research and development team, 18 in Busch/Nationwide and three in the trucks. He was credited with a Busch/Nationwide win at Milwaukee because he started the race for Denny Hamlin.

Although faced with a reduced schedule this year, Almirola said he does not regret his decision to give up his spot as a developmental driver with Gibbs.

"Sure, I wish I was racing more," he said. "My whole reasoning for coming over here was that I thought I had that opportunity. Things haven't worked out quite the way I would have hoped, but it is what it is. So I have to make the best out the 12 cup races I'll get to run."

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