Almirola and No. 43 Team hope to keep momentum from last week's top-10 at Charlotte

CONCORD, N.C. - The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will head to Richard Petty Motorsports' home track, Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway this weekend for the final night race of the season. Aric Almirola and the No. 43 Smithfield Ford team hope to post their second consecutive top-10 finish and seventh top-10 of the season in the Bank of America 500.

Aric Almirola, Ford

Photo by: Action Sports Photography

Almirola has 12 NASCAR starts at the 1.5-mile track, including nine top-15 finishes. In his three Cup starts, he has posted two top-15 finishes and was on point for a third this spring when a late-race incident ended the team's day early. He scored his best finish at the track in the Nationwide race in the fall of 2007 when he brought home a fourth-place finish.

Veteran Crew Chief Todd Parrott isn't a stranger to Victory Lane at Charlotte. He posted two wins with driver Dale Jarrett in his 32 starts at the track. He also tallied eight top-fives and 14 top-10s in his career as crew chief.

Comments from Smithfield Ford Fusion Driver Aric Almirola: "Charlotte is a home game for everyone. We show up guns a blazing. Everyone brings their best cars to Charlotte. You go there, and you want to run well. All the guys work in the shop come out to watch the race. A lot of wives, girlfriends and kids come to watch. It's a fun weekend. It's nice to be a part of a home race like that where everyone gets to be home and relax.

"Charlotte is definitely the most temperamental track we go to as far as day to night. In the daytime, the track is really hot and greasy, and you kind of slide around. Then at nighttime, it cools off and gains a bunch of grip, so we'll have to be really cautious of that during practice. We'll have to get our car driving the way we want it to in order to be ready for the night race."

Comments from Smithfield Ford Fusion Crew Chief Todd Parrott: "Charlotte is definitely a track that most teams circle. Winning there is really special since families are there and folks from the shop too. When the sun goes down, the track handles differently. The cars get more grip and don't slide around as much. We'll really focus on making sure the car handles well into the night."

Richard Petty Motorsports