CONCORD, N.C. (July 31, 2012) – Aric Almirola returns to Pocono Raceway this week with the benefit of experience as well as two new partners. For his second race at the 2.5-mile “Tricky Triangle,” Almirola brings a No. 43 Ford carrying the messaging of primary sponsor Automotive Lift Institute and co-sponsor ALM Materials Handling.
Automotive Lift Institute is a trade association dedicated to promoting the safe design, construction, installation, inspection, service and use of vehicle service lifts.
Its partnership with Richard Petty Motorsports’ No. 43 team will help promote the Institute’s safety message as it launches its Lift Inspector Certification Program. ALM was founded in 1982 and focuses on the manufacture of material handling lifts. Its fixed or adjustable base positioners can improve customers’ competitive advantage by boosting throughput 35 percent or more while eliminating old-fashioned, unsafe inefficient methods.
Almirola welcomes both partners as he returns to Pocono after making his Sprint Cup debut at the Long Pond, Pa., track in June. The No. 43 team finished 28thon the newly repaved track that proved challenging for the entire field and produced multiple wrecks. Sunday’s Pennsylvania 400 will air live on ESPN on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.
Comments from Automotive Lift Institute Ford Fusion Driver Aric Almirola:
“We definitely learned a lot as a team, and I learned a lot as a driver, during our first trip to Pocono earlier this summer. Not only was it my first time racing a Cup car on the track, but the track had just been repaved, too. So it will be nice to go back there the second time with some experience and a notebook to work from. I think we’ll roll off the truck in pretty good shape and I’m ready to get back at it.
“It’s cool to have the Automotive Lift Institute and ALM on our No. 43 Ford this weekend. We’re excited to take new partners to the racetrack and our whole team looks forward to bringing them a good result.”
Comments from Crew Chief Mike Ford on Pocono:
“Pocono is a fun but difficult track every time you go there. And last time, we had the extra element of the repave to work with. Going back now a second time, we’ll have the benefit of Aric having run 400 miles on the track just two months ago and all the notes we took from two days of testing there.
“As we start to return to tracks for a second time in the second half of the season, that will be a big help for Aric and for our entire team. As a team, we’ve been going to tracks together for the first time and building our notebook as we go. It will be a big help now to go back to some of these places, look at our notes and say, ‘OK, we learned this lesson last time. Here’s how we’re going to adjust and be better.'”
Chassis History: The No. 43 team has prepared chassis No. 752 for Pocono. This car was last on track at Michigan International Speedway in June.
About Richard Petty Motorsports:
A performance and marketing driven company, Richard Petty Motorsports, co-owned by NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty and successful business entrepreneurs Andrew Murstein and Douglas Bergeron, 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 and STP and Marcos Ambrose drives the No. 9 machine with primary partners Stanley and DEWALT. In addition, Michael Annett wheels the No. 43 Pilot Flying J Ford Mustang full-time in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. The team is headquartered in Concord, N.C.
