Weekend Marks 40th Anniversary of Petty’s Win in Inaugural Pocono Race
Heading into the 40th anniversary of the weekend “The King” Richard Petty scored a win in the inaugural NASCAR race at Pocono Raceway, Aric Almirola and the No. 43 GoBowling.com team look to make history once again. Thirty years to the weekend of Petty’s 200th win, Almirola and team scored a big win at Daytona International Speedway earlier this year and nearly locked in a spot in The Chase to the Sprint Cup. And this weekend, they hope to keep up that trend. On August 4, 1974, Petty was the first NASCAR driver to take the checkered flag at the Long Pond, Pa., track and started a long history of racing in the Pocono Mountains.
The team also eyes a top finish for sponsor GoBowling.com, the title sponsor of the 400-mile event. For the second consecutive year, GoBowling.com will adorn the hood of the iconic No. 43 “Petty Blue” Ford, promoting bowling across the country. Throughout the race weekend, fans at the track should keep their eyes open for special at-track promotions courtesy of GoBowling.com.
Almirola has just five Sprint Cup starts at the 2.5-mile track and a best finish of 18th. In his lone Truck Series start in 2010, he scored a fourth-place finish.
#43 team & @aric_almirola ready for @GoBowlingdotcom 400. #TheKing celebrates 40th anniv. of win in inaugural @PoconoRaceway race. #NASCAR
@Aric Almirola and No. 43 @GoBowling team eye another history-making win as they head into the weekend of the 40th anniversary of #TheKing Richard Petty’s win in the inaugural @Pocono Raceway race.
“Pocono is a really difficult track. We struggled here in June. With the win at Daytona, we are able to take some gambles to try to make our cars better. Last weekend, we tried out a new car at Indy. It didn’t go as planned, but we do feel like we learned some things.
“Heading into this weekend, we can take some more chances on the setup on the car to see if we can get better here. All three turns are so different at Pocono. Turn One is a very high-speed and high-banked turn. The ‘Tunnel’ Turn is really high speed too but just somewhat of a turn. It is just enough to make you slow down a bit. Then, you have Turn Three that is a long, slow, sweeping corner. You really have to focus on the handling in Turn Three to get the most speed out of your lap. Our goal is to score a Top-15 finish and build some momentum in the next few weeks.
“It’s really great to have GoBowling.com back on the car this year. With them sponsoring the race, we definitely have more incentive to have a good finish. Not to mention, it is another historical weekend, being the 40th anniversary of Richard winning the inaugural race here. Earlier this year, we went to the GoBowling.com headquarters, and it really gave me an appreciation for all that goes into bowling. It’s not just a great family activity; it can be really competitive too.”
No. 43 GoBowling.com Ford
A performance and marketing driven company, Richard Petty Motorsports, co-owned by NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty and successful business entrepreneurs Andrew Murstein and Douglas Bergeron, is one of the most recognized brands in all of motorsports. With a history of over 200 wins and business partnerships with national and global leaders, today the race operation fields two teams in competition in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Aric Almirola pilots the famous No. 43 Ford Fusion with primary partners Smithfield Foods, U.S. Air Force, STP, Strike Ten Entertainment and Fresh From Florida, and Marcos Ambrose drives the No. 9 machine with primary partners STANLEY, DEWALT, Mac Tools and Twisted Tea. In addition, Dakoda Armstrong wheels the No. 43 WinField Ford Mustang full-time in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. The team is headquartered in Concord, N.C.
