Aric Almirola has been one of the top drivers at Talladega Superspeedway in recent years and looks to keep things rolling in Sunday’s GEICO 500.
Almirola is the only driver that has finished in the top 10 in each of the last five races at the 2.66-mile track, which includes a win. He was able to roll into Victory Lane last fall at Talladega to move on to the Round of 8 in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.
Even with its reputation as one of the most challenging tracks on the schedule, Almirola embraces racing at Talladega.
“I think the one thing that differentiates Talladega from every other race track is just the wildness,” he said Friday at Talladega. “All the way from the infield to the actual race on Sunday. It is an exciting place and it produces a lot of exciting and dramatic races. It puts on one hell of a show for the fans and the fans typically put on one heck of a show themselves.
“It is just a very unique place. It is a really cool place. It is out here in the middle of nowhere in Alabama and yet we pack this place time and time again so there is obviously something very special about it.”
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But like most other drivers, Almirola has questions about what kind of racing will take place this time around at Talladega thanks to the new rules changes to the cars.
“I think there is a lot of speculation about what we will see,” he said. “I know that they did somewhat of a test at Daytona after the 500 but it was only like three cars.
“It is hard to tell off of that. I know they have even changed the rules since then with some of the side skirts and the stop in the rear travel an inch shorter and adding an inch of rear spoiler to the car. It will even be different from that. I don’t know really.”
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What Almirola does know is that drafting help will be key as it always is at Talladega. He has three other Stewart-Haas Racing teammates to work with as well as others inside the Ford umbrella. Either way, Almirola knows he will have allies come Sunday.
“I think what you have seen for the past several years, everybody in the Ford camp has done a really good job of working together and we have kind of put the Blue Oval first and made sure that one of our cars was going to win,” Almirola said.
“We automatically intend on working together because you know when you go start pushing a Ford or are racing around a Ford that they are going to be fast. When you are drafting with a Penske or Roush car you know they will be fast and will be able to go up front and lead laps. Same with our Stewart-Haas Racing cars. I can’t speak for everybody but for me personally, throughout 99% of the race if I have an opportunity to work with a Ford that is the choice that I will make.”
