Ford Performance NSCS Notes & Quotes:
2015 Charlotte Media Tour
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
Richard Petty Motorsports has a new driver this season as Sam Hornish Jr. replaces Marcos Ambrose while Aric Almirola looks to build on his best season that resulted in his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory and a spot in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Both drivers were part of a session this morning at the Charlotte Media Tour and discussed the 2015 season.
SAMMY JOHNS, Director of Competition – “We’re really excited. We were able to add 35 new employees and still have a great working relationship with Roush Fenway Racing on the engineering side of things and we’re looking forward to that. I think this model has shown that you can win championships with it. There are other organizations out there working under these type of models and they’ve been able to win championships. We got a taste of victory last year and a taste of the Chase and we’re excited to build on that and take it forward this year.”
ARIC ALMIROLA – No. 43 Smithfield Ford Fusion – “I thought we had a really good 2014 season. Going into the season I felt really good about bringing Trent Owens on board and the additional support that Smithfield was giving us to be able to help grow our race team and provide more assets for our race team. I thought that was gonna be a big improvement and that proved to be right. We went out and set some pretty lofty goals for ourselves to get the 43 car back to victory lane and make the Chase and we were able to do both those things. I think we surprised some people and I think we had a really good year. We want to grow from that. We want to be able to take everything that we’re doing with the new shop and be able to take even more resources that Smithfield is putting into the race team this year, and the additional help we’re getting from Ford and everybody at STP and the Air Force and Fresh From Florida. I think 2015 is going to be a breakout year for us. Bringing Sam on board and that 9 team is gonna be a big boost for our race team and I think getting the shop and everybody on the same page working together, I couldn’t be more proud of where Richard Petty Motorsports is at today compared to where it was at three years ago when I started. Even more so than just last year, I mean last off-season we were working hard but we were only working hard with the tools that we had, and now we have more tools than we’ve ever had since I’ve been there, so I’m excited about it and I think everybody at the shop is too. We’re ready to go.”
SAM HORNISH JR. – No. 9 Twisted Tea Ford Fusion – “I’m just excited. The toughest part about this is really having the opportunity to come to Richard Petty Motorsports and then think about it for four months or so before we actually get to go out and do racing with the lack of testing we’ve been able to do. We’ve only got three tests in so far, so to have that opportunity to work with Drew (Blickensderfer), and Aric came to all three of the tests and we got an opportunity to jump back and forth out of the car to see what each of us liked as far as driving goes. I feel like that’s one of the main benefits right now. It seems like we both want similar things out of the race car. When we have a unified direction the same way they can streamline things at the shop by having the 9 and the 43 done the same way. When we get to the race track hopefully we’ll be able to cover twice as much ground as far as finding which direction to head and how to make our cars better each weekend. But to be able to work for Richard Petty Motorsports, to get to know Sammy and Brian and all the people that are there, the excitement that’s going on in the shop right now. I had an opportunity to go over to the old shop a couple times to see what was going on over there and to see them go through the phase of packing everything up and what that really takes to be able to move a race shop is pretty substantial. To see how things were thought through almost seamlessly the way things went about was really a neat thing. To go to the shop now and see how excited people are about being there, what the possibilities are going to be, there’s a lot of enjoyment that’s already taken place and it seems like people are really pumped up about it and I’m just excited about getting the opportunity to go there, not to mention the fact of going back to the Cup Series full-time. It’s a lot different than what it was when I did it the last time, and I feel like we’ve got a lot of things to look forward to. I think the only thing we’re lacking right now is we still need to sit down and set out a map of what are we gonna feel comfortable with throughout the year. What are our goals gonna be and figuring out how we’re gonna to continue evaluate ourselves to be able to move forward and to get to where we want to go.”
DAKODA ARMSTRONG – No. 43 WinField Ford Mustang – “Actually, I’m just here so I don’t get fined (laughter). I’m sure I’m not the last one to say that. I think the biggest thing is what everyone is going to say is we just have to get better. I think the way the shop is going and the way the team is going, especially for us in XFINITY what we’re looking to do is keep improving each and every week and get to where we’re more consistent and running top 10s. I think that’s the goal. It’s a very tough series, but if you’re in the top 10 every week as a team I feel like you’re there and you can run top fives and have a shot at winning races. That’s kind of the goal right now. Obviously, going back for a second year to these tracks I feel really confident at some of them and I’m gonna know the ones I’ve only been to once but just be more confident going to each and every track. With Frank (Kerr) coming on board he has a lot of great ideas. I thought we’ve jelled really well so far in the short amount of time we’ve had together, so I’m really looking forward to everything we can do on our 43 team, just getting it better. I really thank WinField for coming back on board. Obviously, having a great sponsor in this series is the biggest thing, so everything they do to help us is just really great. I’m really looking forward to everything Richard Petty Motorsports is doing to help our program and the Cup side just keeping better each and every week. I think that’s the goal.” ARIC SAYS: “You have no choice but to run better now because you’re married.” DAKODA RESPONDS: “Yeah, I know.” ARIC SAYS: “That’s expensive.”
BRIAN MOFFITT, CEO – “This is an exciting time at Richard Petty Motorsports. For quite some years we’ve been looking to get back to where we had the autonomy that Sammy was talking about and this year we do. We’re looking forward to the investments that Richard continues to make and Andy Murstein continues to make in the sport. We’re excited about our driver lineup. We’re excited about our crew chiefs. I have to thank everyone during this off-season. Everybody has a lot of work during the off-season, but we had a little more with the move. I can’t say enough about the families that supported our employees and the time that they put into it. We really appreciate them so much and look forward to winning some races this season with the efforts they put into our guys. With announcements, one of the things Jeff said was going to be a big question was the 9 car. We are planning to run the full season with Sam in the car and we have Twisted Tea stepping up in a big way as our primary partner. We also have some other partners that are going to be joining us and we’ll be announcing them later in the year. Blue Emu is coming aboard, R-M Automotive, as well as Medallion Bank and Petty’s Garage, so we look forward to continuing our effort to grow this sport, grow RPM and continue to put our cars in victory lane. We look forward to that. Another announcement that we have is Andy’s Medallion Sports Properties has actually hired Sean Downes, who was development director for NASCAR. He helped bring XFINITY into the sport, so we have him now helping us in our efforts to fill out the number 9 car through the season. Again, we look forward to seeing all of you in victory land as we move forward and appreciate you being here.”
