Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
NASCAR Media Day | Wednesday, February 3, 2021
ARIC ALMIROLA, No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang – WHAT IS YOUR ASSESSMENT OF HOW HARD IT IS TO GET THROUGH THE DAYTONA 500 WITHOUT BEING IN A WRECK? “That’s always the case restrictor plate racing or what now is superspeedway racing. The risk versus reward throughout the entire race. Obviously, the risk versus reward is very apparent when it’s two laps to go, but you have to constantly weigh that out in the middle of stage one, when you’re coming down to the end of stage one. How bad do you want those stage points? All those things. You’re constantly weighing that inside the race car. You’re constantly trying to not only put yourself in position to control the race and lead, but you’re constantly weighing is it worth me putting my car in a bad position right here to get to the lead or to try and get these two sports, or whatever that case is you always have to be mindful of that because there is that opportunity. The easiest way to lose the Daytona 500 is get caught up in a wreck and it happens often.”
WHAT IS THE FRUSTRATION LEVEL? YOU HAVE BEEN NEARLY THERE GOING INTO TURN THREE WITH A CHANCE TO WIN AND HAVE IT TAKEN AWAY. “Unfortunately, I’ve had the time and opportunity to think about that on multiple occasions and I’ve come to the conclusion that I would rather be a part of that opportunity to win and not win versus not really even being involved in the Daytona 500 and get out of there with a seventh-place finish. That’s really my mentality and the way I look at it is, to me, it means more to me to be running up front and have my sponsors on TV and all those things and be challenging to win the race and not go my way versus running a clean race off the back of the draft and being very conservative for the entire race and then missing all the wrecks and finishing seventh. Now, that’s certainly a better payday and a better points day, but at the end of the day we’re there to put on a show. We’re there to race and when I go to the Daytona 500 it’s the biggest race of the year and I want to win and I want to make sure I’m doing everything I can to put myself and our team in position to win that race.”
WHAT ARE THE AREAS THAT WILL BE MOST IMPORTANT FOR YOU AND YOUR OTHER TEAMMATES TO GET CHASE BRISCOE UP TO SPEED AS FAST AS POSSIBLE? “I think the biggest adjustment for him is just the comfort level that he had in the XFINITY Series and in those cars. They obviously had great equipment and he was doing a great job with those cars and putting himself in position to win almost every week and winning a lot. Now, transitioning to the Cup car he doesn’t know what to expect as much. He doesn’t know when he fires off at Homestead or even Daytona how his car is gonna drive. What’s it gonna drive like in the draft? How is his car gonna behave in the middle of three-wide? Late in the tire run? All those things, and as much as somebody else tells you, until you experience it for yourself it’s really, really difficult and really hard. I know that from years ago when I first came in to the Cup Series and running full-time. I had several other drivers help and you still have to go through those growing pains. You still have to learn from experience. There’s no substitute for experience and seeing that with every rookie along the way, and some guys are more fortunate than others to get it to click and things take off faster for some than others, but you have to learn from experience and I think Chase is gonna be the same way. We can talk to him. We can tell him. He can pick our brains, but until he goes out there and feels it for himself and experiences it, it’s gonna be all new.”
WHAT HAS THE SMITHFIELD RELATIONSHIP MEANT TO YOU OVER THESE LAST 10 YEARS? “I just did an interview about this the other day and what I said Ive thought about since I said it because it just naturally came out and I’ve thought about it more since I said it, it’s so true. It’s meant everything. Really, it’s meant everything. It’s no secret that it costs a lot of money to run in NASCAR and you’ve got to have corporate funding and sponsorship backing to be able to go and race and to be successful. For me, I’ve had that. For all 10 years of my Car career, Smithfield has been my partner. I can honestly say that without Smithfield my career would probably not be what it is today, and it certainly would most likely have been a lot shorter and not as successful. So, I owe so much to them and their support, and at the same time I worked my tail off to be sure to give them more than they ever asked for because it is truly a partnership. I’ve always viewed it that way. It’s not just them paying money to put their name on the side of a race car and go around in circles, it’s really about them investing in me and my career and me investing in their company. I think because of that, and because of the way our relationship got off in the beginning I feel like I’m part of the Smithfield family and they treat me that way, and we’ve had 10 great years to show for it.”
HOW MUCH HAVE YOU HAD TO CHANGE YOUR DRIVING STYLE ON THE SUPERSPEEDWAYS, ESPECIALLY SINCE THE TAPERED SPACER CAME OUT? “Yeah, it has. When the cars were what they were in 2018, the runs were a lot slower. Our cars were a lot faster and the closing rate at speed due to the draft was a lot slower. The runs came at a slower closing rate and a lot about the draft was very different even the way the cars drove around each other in the draft. The way that they drafted and the way that they affected the cars around you now it’s so much different. The runs come way faster and the cars are going 20 miles an hour slower, but the runs, the closing rate because of the draft is so effective. The closing rate is very, very fast. It’s very different on many accounts and I think that’s one of the things that makes our sport so interesting and what makes the drivers in our sport so great is that the drivers are so good at figuring it out and adapting.”
WILL THE 500 BE LIKE LAST YEAR WHERE YOU JUST TRY TO SURVIVE TO THE END AND THEN BLOCK THE LAST FEW LAPS? “Without a doubt, absolutely. In superspeedway racing, no matter what, the draft is a very big part of our racing, so guys run into each other and that helps both cars go faster. When you lock bumpers you go faster, so anytime there’s contact involved and that helps you go faster when you start pushing and shoving, it only takes one small mistake at 195-200 miles an hour to misjudge something just by a fraction of an inch and you get involved in a big wreck.”
WHAT HAS BEEN THE SECRET TO YOUR SUPERSPEEDWAY SUCCESS? “I can’t put my finger on just one thing. It takes a lot of different things. It takes a fast race car. It takes a great spotter. Me, in the seat, it takes a lot of concentration and focus, but, really just forethought, just always thinking about your next move. It really is a high-speed chess match and you’re constantly weighing out your risk vs. reward and, fortunately, for me I’ve more often than not found myself in position to win these superspeedway races when it comes down to the end of the race. I’ve done it many a different ways. I’ve done it by being up front and being aggressive all race. I’ve done it by laying back and avoiding the big wrecks, and then being there at the end. I’ve found myself with opportunities to win these races multiple different ways, so I really think that it takes a lot of different key elements to all just kind of go your way on that given race.”
WHAT WILL IT TAKE TO WIN AGAIN? “I would say we’ve got fast race cars. We’ve got to continue that. We’ve got to continue to bring really fast Smithfield Ford Mustangs to the racetrack, and then from that point really is about just executing. I know you probably hear that from 39 other drivers, but it’s true. All of the little details matter and I’ve got to do my part in the race car from hitting my marks and finding the most grip and the most speed on the racetrack, doing a good job on restarts and gaining more spots than I lose. We’ve got to do better on pit road. We’ve got to get to where we’re one of the top teams on pit road. You see year after year the teams that battle for the championship at Homestead are usually the teams – those four pit crews are usually in the top six or seven average pit crews on pit road for the season. So, we’ve got to do better at that. We’ve got to execute the races better, just all of it has to happen in order to win at this level. It’s so hard to win a Cup Series race, incredibly difficult and you’ve got to be perfect and you’ve got to do all the little things right.”
WHAT IS IT LIKE TO RACE AT A LOCAL TRACK. DOES IT HAVE MORE PRIDE? “Certainly pride. It feels like home. It’s so hard to describe, but as soon as the airplane door opens up and I step off of it and I feel that warm, humid air, it feels like home. That’s how I grew up for the first 18 years of my life in Florida, so as soon as I step off the airplane it immediately feels like home and I feel comfortable in that setting. I have so many friends and family in the area and I get to catch up with them on most cases. Now with COVID that will obviously be different and challenging, but it’s a level of comfort when I show up to Daytona that I don’t really have anywhere else, to be honest.”
THOUGHTS ON SONOMA AND ROAD COURSE RACING? “I’ve not been the best of road course racers. I’ll be the first to admit that. That is something that I have tasked myself with at getting better. I’ve got to get better at it and I have put effort into that and I’ve been diligent with trying to become a better road course racer, and I’m going to be a better road course racer. Sonoma, honestly, is my best road course track. I have the best results there. I run the best there, and so of all the road course races that I look forward to, I always look forward to Sonoma the most because I run the best there. I hope by the time it’s time to go there that the state is opened back up and that we can come and put on a show in Napa Valley, and I would love to go there and as I get better at road racing everywhere else, hopefully that will transition to being better at Sonoma and will take me from being a seventh to 10th place guy at Sonoma and maybe put me in contention to run top five and maybe even challenge to win a race there.”
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT SONOMA ONLY BEING A ONE-DAY SHOW? “I think most about the experience of NAPA Valley. That’s one of the weekends that I’ve always enjoyed taking my wife and we kind of have a date weekend, leave the kids at home with grandma and grandpa and go out west and enjoy ourselves for a couple days and then go race at Sonoma. I’ll miss that probably the most, but as far as practice at Sonoma it was always a very difficult track to practice at. The surface is very abrasive on the tires, so you’ve only got a couple of laps anyways to really understand what your car is gonna feel like or drive like and then all the other times you were really just getting in a rhythm and getting ready for the race just with your brake points, your shift points and all those things. You’re just kind of getting in that rhythm to prep for the race, but actually tuning on the car was very difficult at Sonoma anyways, so practice was never super beneficial.”
DO YOU HAVE ANY SUPER BOWL PLANS WITH THE BUCS BEING IN THE GAME? “It’ll just be a big family night. Obviously, we’re getting close to the Daytona 500, so being very mindful of staying in my bubble and not putting myself at anymore risk than I need to to make sure that I’m COVID-free and that I can show up and go start the season and not miss any races because of that. So, that’s top of mind and because of that it’s basically made our plans pretty clear. We’re gonna stay home and cheer really loud from the couch and probably fire up the grill and cook some Smithfield products on the grill and just hang out and kind of make a day of it.”
DO YOU HAVE A PREDICTION? “I’m gonna say Bucs 37, Chiefs 31. We’re not gonna hold the Chiefs to less than 31 points. If we can hold them to 31, I feel like our defense can, and I feel like our offense can get 34 to 37 points on the board.”
DID WHAT HAPPENED IN 2018, BEING HALF A LAP AWAY FROM WINNING THE 500, CHANGE YOUR MENTALITY FOR THE NEXT TIME? “No, I was just really upset for about 24 hours, maybe 48 hours, and then after that I was already shifting my focus to the next race and trying to put that one behind me. That’s the one thing in life that is so apparent, and we’re always faced with that is that we can’t change the past. We can’t go back and change what happened yesterday or even five minutes ago. We just have to always look at the present and look ahead and look towards the next opportunity, so that’s been my mentality with our sport and kind of in life in general, and so, yeah, I was bummed out, for sure, to be that close to winning the Daytona 500 and it not happen, but I don’t think it kept me down whatsoever. We went on to have a great season the rest of the year, won a race later that season and finished fifth in the overall point standings, so it still turned out to be a great year even though the Daytona 500 got away from us.”
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO HAVE PEOPLE LIKE PITBULL COME INTO THE SPORT? “It’s huge. I am proud of where my family has come from and to get to where I’m at today. I tell people all the time I am living proof of the American Dream. My grandparents came over from Cuba in 1966 on the Freedom Flights. They brought my dad and my uncle and started over, started with nothing and started over and built everything back up, created an environment around my dad and my uncle to get them launched in life and here I am the very next generation after they come over and I drive a race car for a living. Who would ever think that? That’s so crazy. Our country is an amazing country. They talk about the land of opportunity and it certainly is, and, yeah, I’m very proud of my background and my Hispanic heritage and I appreciate very much the fanbase that follows and that cheers for us. I know Daniel Suarez and myself are the two guys that kind of represent the Latino community and I love it. We’ve had some very unique and great opportunities to go into some heavily, dense populated areas of Hispanic culture and community and educate them on NASCAR and invite them to a race. To have them come out and experience it with their family has been amazing and they are now hooked and lifelong NASCAR fans because of it. So, it means a lot to me.”
HOW HAS YOUR MOTIVATION CHANGED THIS SEASON WITH AN UP-AND-COMER LIKE CHASE BRISCOE AS A TEAMMATE? DO YOU HAVE A BIGGER CHIP ON YOUR SHOULDER THAN LAST SEASON? “No, I’ve never been one that’s ever really walked around with a chip on my shoulder or felt like I had something to prove. I’ve always been kind of more quiet, more reserved and just internally motivated to do my best. If nothing else, just to make sure that I am always at my peak. I’ve never had any sort of outside pressure that ever felt more than the pressure I put on myself to perform at a high level. It doesn’t matter who my teammate is. It doesn’t matter who I’m racing against, whether I’m racing against Jimmie Johnson or Dale Earnhardt Jr. or Kevin Harvick or anybody else, that’s never really been a big deal to me. It’s always just been for me to get the most out of my race car on that given day.”
HOW EXCITING IS IT TO BE A DRIVER IN NASCAR NOW WITH ALL THE CHANGES GOING ON, AND WHICH NEW TRACK ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO THE MOST? “To be a part of NASCAR at this time is a lot of fun and it’s very exciting to see kind of the trajectory. It’s not a secret that for a while the sport was sliding a little bit and ratings and all those things, and it seems like a couple years ago it kind of bottomed out and now we seem to be back on a little bit of an upward trajectory and that’s exciting. That’s fun. Growing and building towards something for the future is exciting and so I agree. NASCAR is getting ready to launch into our most exciting season ever. We’ve got some really unique events on the schedule with the Bristol Dirt Race and new racetracks, going to Nashville Superspeedway, going to road courses that we’ve never been to in the Cup Series. It’s gonna be interesting and exciting and I have no doubt that the 40 of us knuckleheads on the racetrack are gonna put on a great event for everybody tuning in.”
HOW HARD HAS IT BEEN TO DO WHAT YOU’D LIKE TO DO WITH YOUR FOUNDATION DURING THE PANDEMIC? “It’s been really difficult. A lot of our efforts in the past have gone into giving these comfort kits to families that show up to the hospital and usually show up in emergency and get there and don’t have anything. They don’t have lotion or chap stick or a clean pair of underwear or socks. They don’t have anything to entertain their kids with, so we’ve built these comfort kits and they were delivered on certain floors of the hospital that usually dealt with these instances, where people showed up and didn’t have things. Now, with the hospital situation being what it is and family and stuff not being able to come and be with their children as much, it’s just one guardian and all those things, and the fact that we can’t volunteer. That was something that was very important to Janice and myself and our kids as well was volunteering at the hospital and going there and hand-delivering these comfort kits from room to room. That has been tough. We had a lot of great things planned this year. We were working with Waffle House on something to do. Once a month we were gonna do Waffle Wednesday Night and we were gonna serve breakfast for dinner to everybody and Smithfield was gonna donate the bacon and we were gonna precook all the bacon and Waffle House was gonna bring waffle irons in in the lobby at the hospital and we were gonna have breakfast for dinner. Anybody in the hospital could come down to the lobby and make a to-go plate and take it back up to their room. We were so excited about that. We had so many plans in place to launch that and it didn’t happen because of the pandemic, so a lot of our effort and focus now has been on helping the hospital deal with the pandemic, helping the frontline workers, the nurses, the staff and all the people that are really getting hit the hardest with the pandemic. That’s where a lot of our resources and focus has been lately.”
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE WAY NASCAR CROWNS ITS CHAMPION WITH THE PLAYOFF FORMAT? “You can go 15-1 or 16-0 in the regular season in the NFL and not make it to the Super Bowl. You can have the best record in baseball and not make it to the World Series. It’s called sports. It’s competition and you have to be good when it matters the most and so, yeah, being good during the regular season has a lot of perks and benefits. Certainly, winning a bunch of races is good for the morale and the confidence and the sponsors and everybody involved with the race team, but when the playoffs come you still have to perform at a very high level and even all the success during the regular season it does parlay into the playoffs, just like regular sports. Regular sports you get a better seed when you go into the playoffs. In NASCAR, you have more bonus points, so that can kind of help give you a buffer or a cushion on whether or not you have a bad race. It could kind of save you if you will, based on your regular season results. But, it’s part of sports and sometimes no matter how great you are during the regular season if you’re not equally as great when the playoffs come, you could find yourself not racing for a championship.”
