No. 43 U.S. Air Force Ford Honors Special Tactics Airman
The No. 43 U.S. Air Force Ford will take to the track at Charlotte Motor Speedway for the Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend. The U.S. Air Force and Richard Petty Motorsports are partnering for NASCAR’s 600 Miles of Remembrance program and fallen special tactics combat controller Staff Sgt. Forrest B. Sibley’s name will be featured on the windshield header for the weekend. After a strong showing in the Sprint Showdown this past Saturday, Aric Almirola is hoping that the momentum will continue this weekend, and the team will bounce back from 25th in the Championship Point Standings after bad luck struck in Dover.
Almirola is continuing to build his strength at intermediate tracks in the Richard Petty Motorsports No. 43 Ford. With an average finish of 18th place at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Almirola’s best finish at the track came when he finished in the 10th position in last season’s fall race. He started from the pole position in the first of his eight Cup Series starts at the mile-and-a-half track.
Fans will have the opportunity to see Almirola when he participates in the U.S. Air Force DEP enlistment ceremony at the U.S. Air Force display in Charlotte Motor Speedway’s Fan Midway. After the enlistment ceremony, Almirola will be available for autographs.
Where: U.S. Air Force Display in Charlotte Motor Speedway Fan Midway
When: Sunday, May 29 from 2:00 – 2:30 p.m.
“We ran really well last weekend in the Sprint Showdown. I was pressing pretty hard to get past Kyle Larson for second place in the closing laps of the second segment but got lose and hit the fence. That killed our chances to advance. But, I liked how the car was running. Our first lap of the race was our first lap of on-track activity for the entire weekend, and my team adjusted very quickly to make the changes we needed. And, we were moving to the front. We’ll take what we learned last weekend in the Showdown and apply it this week to unload a No. 43 U.S. Air Force Ford Fusion with a lot of speed. I think the Coca-Cola 600 is going to be a good race for us. The new low-downforce package is creating great racing and a lot of grooves each week, and I think Charlotte will continue in that trend.”
No. 43 U.S. Air Force 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.
