Richard Petty to Help Nathan’s Famous with First Qualifier for 2016 Hot Dog Eating Contest
Earlier this season, Aric Almirola and the No. 43 Nathan’s Famous team scored their first Top-Five finish of the season when he crossed the finishline in the fifth spot. The finish was one of the team’s 15 Top-15 finishes in the 28 races this season.
A winner at Dover in the Truck Series, Almirola has found success at the one-mile, concrete track. He’s tallied six Sprint Cup Series starts, where he has one Top-Five, two Top-10 and three Top-15 finishes. He scored his best finish of fifth this June. He has four starts in the XFINITY Series, where he scored Top-15 finishes in each start. He won the 2010 Truck Series race in his second series start at the track.
“The King” Richard Petty will participate in a Q&A at 12:15 p.m. at Miles the Monster prior to the first Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Qualifier for the annual Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog-Eating Contest. Contestants will compete to qualify for the famous Fourth of July contest starting at 12:45 p.m. at the Nathan’s Famous stage.
“We showed that we could be a spoiler in this Chase. Despite a wreck last week, we’ve been really strong these last few weeks. We’ve been very consistent this year, scoring Top-15 finishes in over half the races, but now, we are working on making those Top-15 finishes Top-10s. We scored our first Top-Five finish earlier this year in Dover. Hopefully, we can repeat that this weekend. Dover is one of my favorite tracks. It gives drivers the biggest sensation of speed, so it makes it fun to race there. We’ll work to race up front all day and hopefully, score another Top-Five finish.”
No. 43 Nathan’s Famous Ford
NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty and successful business entrepreneur Andrew Murstein, 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 and Fresh From Florida, and Sam Hornish Jr. drives the No. 9 machine with primary partners Medallion Bank and Twisted Tea. In addition, Dakoda Armstrong wheels the No. 43 WinField Ford Mustang full-time in the NASCAR XFINITY Series. The team is headquartered in Mooresville, N.C.
