Aric Almirola comes into this week’s AAA Insurance 200 at O’Reilly Raceway Park (ORP) second in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) championship standings, 101 points behind leader Todd Bodine. Given Almirola’s history at the .686-mile race track, this week’s event is a prime opportunity for his No. 51 Graceway Zyclara team to narrow the gap.
Almirola has one top-five finish (third-place, 2009) and one top-10 (10th-place, 2005) in three NCWTS starts at ORP. His third-place run at ORP last season marked the best-ever finish by Billy Ballew Motorsports at the venue. Almirola has avoided the attrition typically associated with the rough and tumble short track, completing 99.8% of the laps in events he’s entered.
Almirola Comments on AAA Insurance 200:
“I’ve always had a lot of success at ORP. I’ve finished third (2009) and 10th (2005) in the Truck Series and got a pole (2007) there in the Nationwide Series. I love the race track. It’s a lot of fun to race on. It’s a short track, but it races like a big track. You can race way up the track, against the fence, or you can race on the bottom. It’s under the lights, which is always a plus. It makes for a lot of exciting racing and the fans get an awesome show. I love racing there.
“You go into ORP knowing that you’re going to have a few donuts on the side of your truck by the end of the night. You’ll probably have a few fender benders, too. I expect our Graceway Zyclara Tundra to have a few scuffs by the time the checkered flag waves. There’s so much side-by-side action that it’s nearly impossible to not make contact with someone before the night’s over.
“ORP is one-day show. We’ll practice, qualify and race on Friday. When you have that format, there’s not a lot of time to figure out any handling issues. It’s important to unload a quick truck and your adjustments have to be on the money. There’s no time for mistakes. Fortunately, those have been strong points for Billy Ballew Motorsports team this year. I expect it to be a solid day for our team.”
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