Almirola hopes for repeat at New Hampshire

CONCORD, N.C. (September 17, 2013) - Aric Almirola hopes to repeat the No. 43 Smithfield Ford's top-five finish at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Sunday's 300-lap race. The team has shown speed at the short tracks recently, and we hope to build on that this weekend.

Almirola has six Sprint Cup Series starts at the New England track. He posted his best finish in this year's June race, where he brought home a fifth-place finish. He also has one Nationwide start, where he started fourth and finished fifth, and five truck series starts at the mile-track. Veteran Crew Chief Todd Parrott has 30 starts at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. In his 30 starts, he has one win, seven top-fives, 15 top-10s and an average finish of 16.5.

Comments from Smithfield Ford Fusion Driver Aric Almirola:

Clint Bowyer and Aric Almirola

Photo by: Action Sports Photography

"New Hampshire is a really flat track and hard to get a hold of. I feel really good going back to New Hampshire. We finished fifth in June. I feel like our short track program has gotten a lot better. We ran really well at Richmond a few weeks ago, and I think what we learned there will really translate to running well at Loudon.

"Loudon is a very unique race track with really wide, flat corners. You spend so much time in the corners that your car has to handle well there. We will really focus on our car's handling and hopefully improve our finish from June."

Comments from Smithfield Ford Fusion Crew Chief Todd Parrott:

"We made some good calls in the June race this year and have been fast at short tracks lately. I think we will be able to hit the ground running this weekend. Qualifying is important here, so we will work hard to get a good starting position and stay up front during the race. Pit calls are really important here too, since it is hard to pass. We'll focus on the car's handling in the corners and making the right calls to get or keep good track position during the race."

Chassis History:

The No. 43 team has prepared chassis No. 850 for New Hampshire. The team last competed with this chassis at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Richard Petty Motorsports