Almirola Looking to Become Guitar Hero at Nashville 

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (March 29, 2010) – The guitar awarded in Nashville Superspeedway’ s  victory lane is one of NASCAR’s most coveted awards.  Aric Almirola has been eyeing the custom Les Paul Gibson since making his first start at the 1.33-mile speedway in 2006. The Tampa, Fla., native is confident that his No. 51 Billy Ballew Motorsports team has what it takes to bring home the beloved trophy this weekend.

Almirola has two Nationwide Series starts and two Camping World Truck Series starts at Nashville Superspeedway.  His best finish came in 2007, when he drove the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing car to a 10th-place finish.

Almirola finished in the top-10 for the second consecutive time last weekend at Martinsville Speedway. His performance moved him into second-place of the NCWTS championship point standings.   

Almirola Comments on the Nashville 200:

“Getting a guitar in victory lane at Nashville (Superspeedway) is something very special. It’s the only race track that does that. The race track itself is unique, but winning the race and having a chance to get a Sam Bass guitar is really cool. No other tracks give away trophies like that. It gives drivers a lot of incentive to win; I know it does me.

“This will be our first race of the season that we don’t have a companion event with the Sprint Cup Series, but I don’t think it will change too much. Harvick and Kyle Busch are entered in the race, so we’ll still have a few couple of the Cup guys to race with. The same guys in the Truck Series that are good every week will continue to be the ones to beat. The race will still have all the excitement that the fans have come to love. It’s going to be tough to win and very competitive. I think the biggest difference is that it will be a little more laid back.

“It will also be our first race as a one-day show. We’ll practice in the morning, have qualifying that afternoon and racing at night. You really have to have your stuff together from the time you unload to be good because you don’t have that much time to work on it.  That’s what gets me excited about being at Billy Ballew Motorsports.  All their preparation and hard work really pays off and it shows when we show up at the race track.”

MOORESVILLE, NC (March 29, 2010) – Steve Wallace will make his second-career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) start this weekend at Nashville Superspeedway.  The Mooresville, N.C., native is returning behind the wheel of the No. 15 Red Top Auto Auction Toyota fielded by Billy Ballew Motorsports for the Nashville 200. Wallace finished fourth in his inaugural NCWTS start at Atlanta Motor Speedway (AMS) earlier this month, only the 25^th driver to achieve a top-five finish in his debut race. Wallace will be driving the same chassis from his previous start.

Wallace comes into this weekend with one pole at Nashville Superspeedway, which he scored in 2007. The No. 15 team achieved its second-consecutive top-five finish last weekend and will be looking to add to that this weekend.

“It feels great to accomplish what we did at Atlanta. There have only been a handful of drivers to get a top-five in their first Truck start, so it’s really cool to be in their company. Our Red Top Auto Auction Toyota was really fast and a lot of fun to drive.  We’re taking the same truck that we used at Atlanta to Nashville, so I’m excited about racing there.  Hopefully we can pick up where we left off.

“I really enjoy racing at Nashville. I’ve got a pole there. It’s a fast track. The concrete is very consistent and doesn’t change a whole lot over the course of the race.  It does take more rubber, though.  It tends to get tighter as the race goes on, so it’s important to remember that when you’re making adjustments.”

“I’ll be racing in both events at Nashville. From what I’ve learned at Atlanta, my truck and my car race differently.  Each one has its own characteristics and there’s not a whole lot of information that can transfer from one to the other.  The biggest benefit from running both races is seat time. The more laps you take around a track, the better you feel about what to expect during the race.  Hopefully running both races will improve our performance for each team.”

MARTINSVILLE, VA. (March 27, 2010) – Aric Almirola captured his second straight top-10 finish of the 2010 season in the Kroger 250 at Martinsville Speedway.  Almirola showed composure throughout the 250 laps at the historic half-mile oval and avoided the trouble typically associated with short track racing. The No. 51 Graceway Pharmaceuticals Tundra was too tight in the initial stages of a run, but the Tampa, Fla., native muscled his way to a sixth-place finish.  Almirola’s solid performance moved the team up to second-place in the championship point standings.

Friday’s qualifying session was rained out.  The field was set according to last season’s owners points, which put Almirola second on the starting grid.  When the race got under way, Almirola’s Graceway Pharmaceuticals Toyota was too tight at the beginning of each green flag run.  Crew chief Richie Wauters made a series of track bar and air pressure adjustments to free up his Tundra during the No. 51 team’s two pit stops. The team made significant gains, but Almirola’s truck was still too tight on each restart.  Unfortunately, the race’s several caution periods made it difficult for

Almirola to maintain his track position and he scored a sixth-place finish.

“We had a great truck today,” said Almirola. “I felt like it was a third or fourth-place truck.  We were too tight in the early stages of a run.  There were so many cautions and restarts, which made it tough to keep our track position.  The breaks didn’t go our way, but it was still a good finish for our Graceway Pharmaceuticals Tundra. It was a solid points day for us and we’ll look to improve on that next week at Nashville.”

Almirola will return to action in the Nashville 200 at Nashville Superspeedway on April 2. Coverage will be on SPEED and MRN starting at 7:30 PM.

MARTINSVILLE, VA. (March 27, 2010) – After a one-week break, Johnny Benson made the most of his return to NASCAR Camping World Truck Series action.  The 2008 champ started ninth and finished fifth in a caution-filled Kroger 250 at Martinsville Speedway. Benson’s finish marked the second consecutive top-five for the No. 15 team.

Driving the Red Top Auto Auction Tundra, Benson used his veteran poise to stay within the top-five for the majority of the event..  Benson’s Toyota was a tick too tight for his liking, but crew chief Kevin “Cowboy” Starland made track bar and air pressure adjustment to loosen up the No. 15 Toyota in each of team’s two pit stops.  Bumping and banging was the norm throughout the race, but Benson navigated the troubled waters to claim fifth-place.

“It was a lot of fun to race again,” said Benson.  “These Truck races are always so exciting.  There was a ton of bumping and banging.  It seemed like a lot of guys were running out of patience and just trying to move guys out of the way.  I sure miss being a part of it.

“Our Red Top Auction Toyota was a little bit too tight.  It was great overall, but not quite good enough to race with the top-three.  Not a bad day at all, though. Hopefully I’ll have a chance to get back behind the wheel again soon.”

The Red Top Auto Auction Toyota will return to action at Nashville Superspeedway on April 2 with  Steve Wallace behind the wheel.  Wallace finished fourth in his last NCWTS event.