Bristol, Tenn. (August 27, 2010) – Aric Almirola and the No. 51 Zyclara/Graceway Pharmaceuticals Toyota team finished sixth in Friday night’s EnjoyIllinois.com 225 at the fast Chicagoland Speedway to extend their top-10 finish streak to five. The team was able to overcome a “loose” handling truck to barely miss out on another top-five. Almirola and the Billy Ballew Motorsports team have now collected an amazing 13 top-10 finishes in 16 starts so far this season. They remain second in NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver championship standings as Almirola has a 67 point cushion over third place Johnny Sauter. The team trails leader Todd Bodine by 236 points.

Almirola started the night in eighth, but quickly moved up to fourth in the opening laps. Almirola reported that he was a bit “tight” across the bumps in the track, but was still tracking in the fourth position when the first caution waved on Lap 29. The team came down pit road for four tires and a wedge adjustment to better the handling.

The team came back on the track in fourth position and started the longest green run of the race. From Lap 34 to Lap 78 the race went green and the Graceway Pharmaceuticals Toyota was just too loose for Almirola to challenge the leaders. But, the team remained calm as Almirola raced to keep the team in the game. They slipped back to 10th, but crew chief Richie Wauters had mapped his plan to get the truck better.

A caution finally waved on Lap 78 allowing Almirola to dive down pit road for the adjustments. The crew adjusted air pressure and wedge and also took four new tires and fuel. They picked up two spots on pit road and Almirola held onto eighth-place until a caution on Lap 124 when the truck of James Buescher spun into the wall. This opened the door for teams to make their last pit stops under the yellow. The leaders came down pit road with most taking only two tires, but for Almirola and the Graceway team to win, they needed four tires and another air pressure adjustment.

They restarted 10th on Lap 129 with 21 laps to go. Almirola, with four fresh tires, moved up to seventh and then fifth when a final caution waved on Lap 147 of the scheduled 150-lap race. This set up a green-white checkered finish. Almirola restarted on the bottom groove of the track and was pinned down stopping his momentum. It took a complete lap for Almirola to get in position to pass again. The final lap he moved back to sixth where he took the checkered. Kyle Busch won the race and was followed by Bodine, Ron Hornaday, Sauter, Justin Lofton and Almirola.

“We were just really loose on that long run in the middle of the race,” said Almirola. “We slipped back and we really needed a caution to come out. But, Richie and the guys made some great adjustments that put us back in a great position on the final restart. We were fifth, and I felt like we had a third-place truck, or even an opportunity to pull something out for the win.

“On that final restart, the bottom just didn’t work for me. I got pinned down there and lost speed. We got back to sixth, but I think we were actually better than that. I’m proud of the guys for sticking in there and getting this Graceway Pharmaceuticals Toyota another top-10 finish.” Almirola and the team will look to extend their streak next Friday night at the Kentucky Speedway. The race, the 18th on the 25 race schedule, is scheduled to be televised live on SPEED Channel beginning at 7:30 p.m.