Repeat performance? Aric Almirola aims to make Daytona magic again
When Aric Almirola arrived at Daytona International Speedway last July, the Richard Petty Motorsports driver was in a virtual must-win situation where making the Chase for the Sprint Cup was concerned.
Saddled 23rd in points, Almirola stood virtually no chance of qualifying for NASCAR's playoff based on his position in the standings.
Winning, therefore, was effectively his only option if he wanted to advance -- and that's exactly what he did.
Out front when rain forced NASCAR to call the race 48 laps shy of the scheduled distance, Almirola celebrated in a soggy Victory Lane on the 30-year anniversary of team owner Richard Petty's landmark 200th career victory that came at the same Florida track.
Now back at Daytona one year later, Almirola is once again looking for a win to solidify a berth in the Chase. But unlike last year, he's 15th in points -- well within striking distance of moving into Chase position over the final 10 races of the regular season, even if he doesn't score a victory.
"To be honest with you, we are in a different situation than we were in last year," Almirola said Friday at DIS, where he and the rest of his fellow Sprint Cup drivers were preparing for Sunday night's Coke Zero 400. "Last year I think we were 23rd in points at this time and really making the Chase on points wasn't a real option for us. We could be a lot more aggressive and didn't have anything to lose, where this year we do.
"We have to be mindful of that and can't just throw caution to the wind and just go and be extremely aggressive and just whatever happens, happens. We have to be more methodical about it and need to take calculated risks, for sure, but at the same time here at Daytona anything can happen. You can be minding your own business and end up in a wreck not of your doing. You can be overaggressive and cause a wreck. For us, it is about making it to close to the end and then going and racing for it. What we can't do is wreck on Lap 5. That is something that we have to be very cautious of."
Although Almirola doesn't necessarily need a win to make this year's Chase, another trip to Victory Lane -- especially at Daytona -- would be his preference.
"Every time you come to Daytona and Talladega, you feel you have a 1-in-43 shot of winning and a 1-in-43 shot of ending upside down," Almirola said. "It can go either way. That is how this racing goes. We brought the same car back, and it has had some updates aerodynamically, but we feel good about it. It is the same car we had at Talladega (in May) and we ran really well there and was up front a lot of the race. I felt good about the way it drafted there. We will see. Having the race under the lights here Sunday night will be really cool."
A year removed from his first and only win in NASCAR's top series to date, Almirola has nothing but fond memories of that day. His first career Sprint Cup triumph came in his 125th start.
"It was unbelievable," Almirola said. "From the beginning of starting at Richard Petty Motorsports in 2012, I said that I wanted to be the guy that got the 43 car back to Victory Lane. I knew there had been quite a few drivers between me and John Andretti in 1999 that had driven the car. I wanted to be the guy that ended the drought and got the 43 car back to Victory Lane. That part was very special."
Although Richard Petty wasn't in Daytona when Almirola ended the long drought, Almirola won't ever forget celebrating with the NASCAR Hall of Famer and seven-time driving champion upon returning home to North Carolina.
"It was really cool to see the gratitude and excitement on Richard's face when I saw him when I got back to North Carolina after winning down here," Almirola said. "There has been a lot of cool things that have come about because I won down here in the 43 car at Daytona on Fourth of July weekend, 30 years to the weekend that Richard won his 200th. There were a lot of special things, but for me, selfishly, it was just cool that I won my first Cup race. The fact that I won my first Cup race and did it right here in Daytona, a place that is really special to me growing up in Tampa, I couldn't have scripted it any better."
VIDEO: A look back at Aric Almirola's win in the 2014 Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway
Richard Petty Motorsports
