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Finishing Position Doesn’t Reflect the Success of Aric Almirola in NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Debut

MEMPHIS, TN – His finishing position doesn’t reflect the success Aric Almirola enjoyed in his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut at Memphis Motorsports Park behind the wheel of the No. 47 FedEx Express Morgan Dollar Motorsports Silverado. The Tampa Bay, FL native displayed talent and poise both on and off the track despite posting a 30th place finish in the O’Reilly 200, his first attempt at competition in one of NASCAR’s big-three series events.

After working to get the right setup to start the race during two one-hour practice sessions, Almirola was the 39th truck in the qualifying order of the 40 trucks on hand attempting to make the 36-truck field. He turned in the 33rd fastest time to make his first official NCTS start.

“We loosened our FedEx Silverado up for qualifying,” said Almirola. “But the track was so much hotter than it was even during the last practice that we were just too loose to hang on to it. I was disappointed with starting so far back but I knew Randy Goss (crew chief) and the guys have given me a great truck and we would race well.”

With an air temperature of 93 degrees and the heat index sitting at 108 degrees when the field took the green flag, Almirola knew that patience was going to be the key.

“Randy told me to just look ahead and concentrate on passing one truck at a time,” Almirola explained. “Between Randy and my spotter Jason Pasch, I had great coaching to help me get in the rhythm of the race.”

The Reggie White/Joe Gibbs Racing Late Model Diversity driver displayed the patience and smoothness of a veteran driver as he methodically worked his way through the field, running in the 15th position as the field thundered into turn one on the 160th lap of the race.

Coming out of turn two on lap 162, Almirola brushed the outside wall. The contact sent the No. 47 back across the track making hard contact with another truck and ending the night for the talented young driver.

“Aric did a great job tonight,” said Goss. “He proved he has a lot of talent, maturity and desire. We are all excited about how well we ran throughout the race. The truck wasn’t just right but we kept working on it and Aric never gave up. We are looking forward to our test at Indianapolis Raceway Park this week and then the race.”

“I had a lot of fun out there tonight,” Almirola concluded. “I learned a lot. These guys race hard from the drop of the green flag. I know we need to qualify better because track position is critical. I am really looking forward to IRP.”

Almirola and the No. 47 FedEx Express Silverado team will test at IRP in preparation for the August 5th Power Stroke Diesel 200.