No. 10 Smithfield Ford Racing: Aric Almirola Nashville Advance

Aric Almirola
Nashville Advance
Smithfield Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing

Event Overview

• Event: Inaugural Ally 400 (Round 17 of 36)
• Time/Date: 3:30 p.m. EDT on Sunday, June 20
• Location: Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway
• Layout: 1.333-mile, concrete oval
• Laps/Miles: 300 laps/399.9 miles
• Stage Lengths: Stages 1: 90 laps / Stage 2: 95 laps / Final Stage: 115 laps
• TV/Radio: NBCSN / MRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Notes of Interest

● It’s been 10 years since NASCAR last competed at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway, when the Xfinity Series concluded a 10-year run there. The NASCAR Cup Series has never competed on the 1.333-mile concrete oval.

● Aric Almirola is one of the few drivers in this weekend’s Cup Series inaugural Ally 400 field who has raced at Nashville Superspeedway in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and Camping World Truck Series. In four Xfinity Series starts at the track, Almirola has three top-10 finishes and one top-five with a best finish of fifth. In four Truck Series starts, Almirola has earned two top-10s and a top-five with a best finish of third.

● Last weekend, Almirola raced his way into the NASCAR All-Star Race at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth by winning the All-Star Open. He finished eighth in the All-Star Race, but the mistake-free day was arguably one of the No. 10 team’s most successful days of the season.

● In Almirola’s last 10 starts at 1.5-mile tracks, he has earned three top-10 finishes and has led 36 laps. At Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, a 1.366-mile track comparable in length to Nashville, Almirola has two top-10s in his last three starts. He was involved in an early accident in his most recent visit to Darlington last month but showed speed before the incident.

● Career Stats: Almirola has career totals of two wins, two poles, 24 top-five finishes, 80 top-10s and 858 laps led in 368 NASCAR Cup Series starts.

● Smithfield Foods celebrates 10 years of partnership with Almirola this season with a special campaign called Taste Victory.As one of the most active partners in NASCAR, Smithfield plans to engage fans all year long by hosting a microsite that provides the opportunity to win when Almirola wins or finishes inside the top-10. When Almirola wins, one fan wins $10,000, and 10 fans win a gift card for each top-10 finish. The microsite also doubles as an Aric Almirola fan page and entertainment source where fans can get behind the wheel of the No. 10 Smithfield Ford with a custom racing game, and learn more about Almirola with fast facts, favorite recipes and custom content about his life on and off the track. Visit www.tastevictory.com to learn more. Thanks to Almirola’s Feb. 11 win in his Duel qualifying race for the Daytona 500, one lucky fan has already won $10,000.

● Beyond the 10 YouTube Series: In 2021, Almirola continues to share his life beyond the No. 10 Smithfield Ford with season three of his award-winning YouTube series. Fans and media can subscribe on YouTube to see Almirola’s personality on and off the track. Episodes have already featured life as a dad, a husband and an athlete, and it gives fans a unique perspective on what goes on in the life of a professional NASCAR driver. Fans can also follow Almirola’s social media channels: @Aric_Almirola on Twitter and Instagram, and @AricAlmirola on Facebook.

● After the season’s first 16 points-paying events, the Smithfield Ford team sits 28th in the championship with 205 points, 459 behind leader Denny Hamlin.

Aric Almirola, Driver of the No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing

You have some solid finishes at Nashville in the Xfinity and Truck series. Are you looking forward to getting back there after a solid finish at Texas last weekend?

“I’m certainly looking forward to it coming off one of our best days this year. We tried something new and had a fast car good enough to let us race for a million bucks and we didn’t make any mistakes as a race team. It was the kind of day we needed heading to a new race that can get us back on track after the year we have had. We really needed that as a race team. Everyone is headed to Nashville with a clean slate and that gives me a lot of hope for a solid weekend.”

With this weekend bringing back practice and qualifying at another intermediate track, does this give you more opportunity?

“Absolutely. If we can have similar speed as last weekend, we have the opportunity to start up front in cleaner air and see what we have for the day. Bad luck has put us back in the standings and, when you’re far back in the standings, you start every weekend in a bad spot and it puts you in more unlucky positions. This format is so tough because we start outside the top-20 in dirty air and you can’t pass back there. Then you’re fighting so hard to make up a few spots at a time.”