No. 43 Smithfield Ford Strong in Loudon’s July Race
Aric Almirola returns to New Hampshire Motor Speedway this weekend after a late-race lugnut issue during the July race spoiled what would have been a Top-10 finish. After visiting pit road to get all five lugnuts on the wheel to avoid steep penalties, Almirola restarted in the back of the field and fought his way to a 19th-place finish. The No. 43 Smithfield Ford team will look to build upon what they learned from that solid run and secure a Top-10 finish this time around. Although not in The Chase, Almirola and the team are using the final Chase races to revitalize their season and win races. Almirola has nothing to lose and everything to gain in the final push to close out 2016 on the upswing, and New Hampshire has been a good track for him in the past.
This trip to Loudon, N.H., will be Almirola’s 12th start at the one-mile oval. He scored two Top-10 finishes, a fifth-place finish in 2013 and a sixth-place finish in 2014. Almirola ran one XFINITY race there and finished in the fifth position.
Fans will have the opportunity to see both Almirola and “The King” Richard Petty when they judge the Whole Hog Challenge at the Smithfield display in New Hampshire Motor Speedway’s Fan Midway. Pre-selected contestants will compete against one another to eat eight Smithfield ribs the fastest. The winner, crowned by Almirola and Petty, will move on to participate in the final Whole Hog Challenge Championship in Miami at the end of the season.
When: Sunday, September 25, 10:25 – 10:55 AM
Where: Smithfield Display, New Hampshire Motor Speedway Fan Midway
“New Hampshire Motor Speedway can be a challenge to get a handle on because it’s such a unique racetrack. It’s flat, and the corners are really long. You spend more time in the corners there than you do on the straightaways which is much different than most of the tracks that we go to. So you have to have a car that is turning well, but, at the same time, you have a car that’s driving off of the corner with a lot of rear grip. It can be really hard to find that balance. But, we ran up in the Top 10 there earlier this year, so we’ve definitely got a good set of notes to use going into the weekend. I’m excited to see what we can do this time in our No. 43 Smithfield Ford.”
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. The team is headquartered in Mooresville, N.C.
