Aric Almirola wins first NASCAR race
The guy who used to share a ride with Mark Martin finally broke into the win column in NASCAR. Aric Almirola, who shared the No. 8 ride with Martin two seasons ago in the Cup Series, won the Dover 200 on Friday.
Although technically he’s already won a NASCAR race, Aric Almirola didn’t get to celebrate his “win” in 2007 in NASCAR’s Busch Series. Instead, Denny Hamlin took the checkers and celebrated in Victory Lane with his team.
This one was all his. “That trophy is not at my house on the mantle,” he said, referring to the Busch race from ’07. “This one will be tonight.”
“Last year was a rough year for me and I was pretty down and out,” he added. He started the year in the No. 8 car for Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing, but only made six races before funding for Almirola’s car dried up. He looked to the truck series, and found a ride with Billy Ballew.
Last year at Kentucky Speedway, Almirola told me, “I like to think of it as me and Billy are doing each other a favor.” He stopped for a second and added, “Billy needed a driver to drive the truck and I was available so he called me up and asked me to race his truck and we’ve been doing it ever since.”
Aric Almirola ran well last year at Kentucky in a Billy Ballew truck. This season he has one win and now leads the Camping World Truck Series points
In that race Almirola was leading late, but finished fifth. “Last year was a rough year for me and I was pretty down and out,” he said after the race on Friday. Ten months later he finds himself in a full-time ride and leading the Truck Series points.
I just knew last July that Aric could do it. Now I wonder if he’ll be able to keep this momentum up and continue running well. I know I’ll be rooting for him.
C.O.O.L. Clinic wraps up another successful stay in Cincinnati
The annual C.O.O.L. (Coaches of Offensive Line) Clinic was another success this year. On Saturday Aaron Kromer, line coach of the Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints started off a great day of presentations from some of the best in the business.
Bengals offensive line coach Paul Alexander might have stolen the show in the morning, well, at least in my opinion he did. He spoke a little about football, but wove in many theories on coaching and teaching in general along the way.
Very few people know that Alexander loves playing the piano. Even fewer probably realize just how darn smart he is. His presentation was one of the best, if not the best, presentation I have ever heard in my life.
I just wish I could attend the C.O.O.L. Clinic forever if I get to hear talks like that every year.
Joe Gibbs Racing is dominating the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
With Kyle Busch’s victory in Sunday’s Autism Speaks 400, Joe Gibbs Racing has won five out of the last seven races—all of the races that NASCAR has run under the new spoiler set up. Denny Hamlin has three victories this year and Busch’s second of the year yesterday was a relatively dominant one.
He battled with Jimmie Johnson late, but a speeding penalty on pit road relegated the normally flawless driver of the No. 48 machine to a 16th place finish, one lap down.
On Tuesday Rick Hendrick said, “Looks like [Gibbs] passed me. He didn’t [catch] me. He lapped me.” So how much of this success has had to do with the wing? Johnson feels not a whole lot has changed. “I know there’s been some conversation that maybe [Hendrick Motorsports] or the 48 team has had some troubles with the spoiler being on the car, and I can’t say it’s changed much for us,” he said Friday.
Jimmie Johnson's speeding penalty cost him a win at Dover
Busch feels that Hendrick is still the team to beat week in and week out, even if his own team seems to be dominating. “I don’t feel like we’ve caught or passed Hendrick Motorsports. I feel like we’ve just gotten our stuff better where now we’re competitive week in and week out. That’s the way we should be.”
Kyle Busch and his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates are turning it on. Will this momentum carry to Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July and further?
One thing that is certain is that Busch and Hamlin are on a roll. Hamlin came home fourth today and JGR teammate Joey Logano finished 10th at the “Monster Mile”. Overall, that’s not a bad day at the office for the Gibbs boys. Busch moved to second in the points and Hamlin now sits fifth. Logano moved up to 18th, two spots behind Dale Earnhardt Jr.—Hendrick’s lowest driver.
For the past few seasons NASCAR has wanted “real” rivalries to exist between drivers. Hence the “gloves are off” policy this year. I’m willing to bet that NASCAR is loving the developing feud between the two super teams of the sport.
Hamlin thinks that all this talk of JGR catching, or even passing, HMS is a little too early. “Rick [Hendrick] does a good job of motivating his team” he said. “I just think that [talk of someone else catching them] is maybe motivation. His team always seems to stay on top.”
Even Joe Gibbs, the former NFL head coach, thinks we should all calm down for a second. “I don’t think we’ve caught ‘em,” Gibbs said on Tuesday. “We’ve been fortunate over these last six or seven weeks. But my focus—and the focus of everyone else at our place—is that you’ve got to be there every week. We’re just getting started.”
Just getting started? Sounds like we’re in for one heck of a fun battle as the season progresses. I can’t wait to see how this storyline pans out for each team as the 2010 campaign continues.
And feel free to check out my post-race story on FOX19’s Sports website. Nothing editorial, just the straight facts: http://www.fox19.com/Global/story.asp?S=12490554
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