No. 43 Smithfield Ford Competing in Friday Night’s Showdown
The No. 43 Smithfield Ford team will race in Friday night’s Sprint Showdown for a chance to compete in the All-Star Race the following night. Aric Almirola will have three opportunities to win a segment of the Showdown and advance to the All-Star Race. Drivers can also advance to the All-Star Race by winning the Sprint Fan Vote. Fans can vote online for Almirola daily. Coming off of a tough finish in Dover after getting caught up in an 18-car accident, Almirola is looking for a strong run at Charlotte Motor Speedway to gain momentum for the following weekend’s Coca-Cola 600 and the following weeks of the 2016 season.
Almirola has made three previous starts in the Showdown. He finished in the seventh position in his first two Showdown races and scored a fifth-place finish in the 2014 race. A win in Daytona’s 2014 summer Sprint Cup Series feature earned Almirola his first start in 2015’s All-Star Race. He finished in the 14th position.
“It’s always fun racing at Charlotte Motor Speedway. We would have liked to already qualify for the Sprint All-Star Race with a win, but the Showdown is a great opportunity for our team to show the fans and our competitors in the garage what we can do. Being able to race our way in would be great momentum for our team going into both the All-Star Race and the Coca-Cola 600 the next weekend. I’ve run well in the Showdown in the past, so I feel confident that our team can get there and we race under the lights on Saturday night.”
No. 43 Smithfield Ford
A performance and marketing driven company, Richard Petty Motorsports, co-owned by 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 with drivers Aric Almirola and Brian Scott. Almirola will return to the iconic No. 43 Ford with partners Smithfield Foods, STP, United States Air Force and the “Fresh From Florida” campaign. Scott will make his debut with the team and drive the Petty Family No. 44 Ford. Albertsons Companies, Shore Lodge, Twisted Tea and GoBowling.com will join Scott as he competes for Rookie of the Year in his first full-time season in the Sprint Cup Series. Richard Petty Motorsports will also field the No. 43 Ford Mustang in the NASCAR XFINITY Series with driver Jeb Burton, who will compete in his first full-time XFINTY season with partner J. Streicher. The team is headquartered in Mooresville, N.C.
