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Date: Nov. 17, 2007
Event: Ford 300 (Round 35 of 35)
Series: NASCAR Busch Series
Location: Homestead-Miami Speedway (1.5-mile oval)
Start/Finish: 11th/18th (Running, completed 200 of 200 laps)
Winner: Jeff Burton of Richard Childress Racing (Chevrolet)
Aric Almirola, driver of the No. 18 Banquet Chevrolet for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR), finished 18th in Saturday’s season-ending Ford 300 NASCAR Busch Series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Almirola started 11th and was in the top-20 for much of the 200-lap event. Despite battling a tight handling condition early in the race, Almirola worked with crew chief Jason Ratcliff to find a proper balance for the No. 18 machine through a series of jack-bolt and tire-pressure adjustments.
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The Banquet crew looked to be in good shape for a top-10 finish as Almirola was 14th on lap 164 when he made his final pit stop of the race under green. While the pit stop was fine, a spin by rookie David Ragan that brought out the yellow flag on lap 171 was not. The caution period put Almirola and several cars one lap down and out of contention for a good finish.
“We we’re making gains on it,” Ratcliff said. “We felt like we could have been in the top-10, maybe even sixth or seventh. We could have made it on fuel, but we were losing too much time on the race track, so we decided to short-pit and it bit us. You work, work, work and progress for 170 laps and then it goes downhill on you. But if you do this long enough, you just move on and go to next week.”
Almirola was able to gain the lap back, but couldn’t climb into the top-15.
“It’s too bad what happened at the end,” Almirola said. “We made some gains on it and just got caught out. I would’ve liked to have finished better in my last race with Joe Gibbs Racing, but that’s the way it goes. I appreciate all they’ve done for me and I enjoyed my time here.”
The race was Almirola’s 27th career Busch Series start and his 20th this season, all of which came with JGR. The Ford 300 marked Almirola’s last race with JGR, as the 23-year-old driver heads to Dale Earnhardt Inc., in 2008.
“Aric’s got a lot of talent and it’s been a lot of fun watching him progress as a driver,” Ratcliff said. “He’s come a long way, just in the way he communicates during a race and in the way he hustles on restarts. He used to be a little timid on restarts, and now he really hustles for every position. It’s been a lot of fun. It’s always fun to work with young guys and watch them grow and mature in the sport.”
There were 12 caution periods for 48 laps, with 11 drivers failing to finish the 200-lap race.
With the final Busch Series race of the season in the books, the No. 18 car finished the year 21st in owner points.
Winning the Busch Series championship was Carl Edwards, who clinched the Busch Series driver title two races ago at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, but was officially crowned at the end of the Ford 300. The No. 29 team of Richard Childress Racing, meanwhile, clinched the Busch Series owner championship by simply starting the Ford 300.
Jeff Burton scored his 27th career Busch Series victory and his fifth of the season by winning the Ford 300. Mark Martin, Matt Kenseth, Edwards and Stephen Leicht secured the rest of the top-five. Greg Biffle, Tony Raines, Bobby Hamilton Jr., Clint Bowyer and Marcos Ambrose comprised the remainder of the top-10.
The 2008 season of the newly named NASCAR Nationwide Series kicks off February 16 with the Camping World 300 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. The race will be broadcast live and in high-definition on ESPN2.