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.