Long Pond, Penn. (July 31, 2010) – Aric Almirola and the No. 51 Zyclara by Graceway Pharmaceuticals Toyota team made a successful run during the inaugural running of the Pocono Mountain 125 at the 2.5-mile, triangular-shaped Pocono Raceway Saturday afternoon.  Although Almirola fell just short of his third win of the season, he finished fourth to pick up his fourth top-five finish of the season.  The result, along with Todd Bodine’s 12^th-place finish, helped the No. 51 team cut into the point lead held by Bodine.

It came down to a game of track position during Saturday’s 50-lap race.  One of the shortest races all season, drivers didn’t have much time to get to the front. Fortunately for Almirola, the front is where he spent most of his afternoon.  After qualifying fifth in the morning, he took the No 51 to the third spot after Lap One, but the caution waved for a wreck.  Almirola settled back into fifth after the race went back to green.

The team raced in the fifth spot until Lap 25 when the second caution waved for an accident.  During the long run Almirola communicated that his truck was “tight” in traffic.  Crew Chief Richie Wauters made adjustments to help the handling as the crew put on four new tires and fuel.  It proved to be the team’s only pit stop of the day.

Almirola came off pit road fifth, and when the race went back to green, was stuck on the inside line on the restart.  The bottom line didn’t advance and Almirola found himself in seventh before trucks strung out to single-file.  A Lap 33 caution for debris once again bunched the field, but allowed the team to start on the outside as Almirola had moved backed to sixth just moments before the caution. 

The following green run, Almirola was once again snake bitten by track position.  This time the outside line hung up on the restart and forced the Zyclara by Graceway truck back to eighth.  But, the short race was still a long way from done.  A series of late-race cautions began on Lap 41 when Bodine was spun by another truck in front of Almirola.  The team capitalized and moved into the third position as the race set up to finish under the green-white-checkered procedures.

On the restart, restarting on the inside of the second row, Almirola attempted a pass for the potential win.  He took the Billy Ballew Motorsports truck down low and drag raced the leaders Kasey Kahne and Elliott Sadler into Turn One.  A great move, but Almirola didn’t have the momentum to complete the sweeping pass.  Another caution waved soon waved giving the team another opportunity on the restart, but this time Almirola was in the fifth spot. He made a pass to fourth on the second attempt of the green-white-checkered and that was where he finished. 

“It was really about track position and clean air,” Almirola said.  “We had that one chance to go for the win.  We went for it, but I didn’t have the momentum I thought I did.  It didn’t work, but coming home fourth and having a good points day is what we needed after the last two races.

“We were just too tight in traffic.  If I could have got out front I think we had something for those guys. We got in position to do that late in the race, but it was going to be tough to complete that pass.  Kasey (Kahne) and Elliott (Sadler) had strong trucks too.  It was a good day and we’ll move onto Nashville.”

Almirola and the No. 51 team now turn their attention to the Nashville Superspeedway for Saturday night’s Nashville 200.  The race will air live on SPEED and is scheduled to start at 8:30 p.m. ET.