Aric Almirola eager to sign sponsor for 2009 season

By Jared Turner - SceneDaily Staff Writer

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Geoff Burke
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CONCORD, N.C. – Aric Almirola is encouraged by how the hunt for a 2009 sponsor on the No. 8 Dale Earnhardt Inc. Chevrolet is going.

Almirola, who is sharing the ride with Mark Martin this season, will become the solo driver of the car next season when Martin leaves for Hendrick Motorsports. But the U.S. Army is shopping its sponsorship around, and DEI President Max Siegel said Sunday he still did not know whether Army will return as a sponsor in 2009.

“We’ve got quite a few things in the works actually,” the 24-year-old Almirola said before Wednesday’s Sprint Cup test at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. “I think we’re in the same boat that a lot of other people in the garage area are. We’re wining and dining sponsors like everybody else, and we’re trying to give them a reason and show them why they should sponsor our No. 8 car.

“Obviously we run good every week, and we have a really great organization and really good race cars. We’ve got a lot of people interested. We’ve just got to close the deal on a few things.”

While DEI searches for a primary sponsor on Almirola’s No. 8, the organization is also hoping to secure sponsorship for the No. 01 car of Regan Smith. Paul Menard, who brings sponsorship from his father’s Menards home improvement stores to DEI’s No. 15 car, has said he will return to DEI or move to Yates Racing next season, meaning DEI could need sponsors for three of its four teams.

The only deal certain for now is that Bass Pro Shops is returning to the No. 1 DEI car of Martin Truex Jr.

“We hope that [the possibility of Menard leaving] is not an issue, but this sport is ever-changing, so you always have to be ready for Plan B,” Almirola said. “ … Everybody at DEI is working hard on putting things together and just trying to get prepared for 2009. We still want to close out 2008 strong. We’ve had a really good year. All of our cars are top 35 in owner points. The 8 car is nipping at the heels of 13th in owner points. I think we’re like 52 points out of 13th in owner points, so I think that says a lot about our race team as a whole to be able to take two different drivers.

“It’s really hard for those guys [in the crew] to get in a rhythm and stuff like that, but yet at the same time, we’re right there on the cusp of finishing 13th in owner points. That’s something that we’re working really hard on, and hopefully through things like that, through our performance, that will help plans for 2009 come together.”

Almirola says he is looking forward to next year when he will get to run a full season for the first time after running partial schedules this year and last.

“I don’t feel a whole lot of pressure going into next year,” Almirola said. “I’m more excited than anything. I think the pressure is going to be there come next year, and it should be expected. This race team deserves to run up front every weekend. They build good enough race cars, they have [a] good enough group of guys. So that really points the finger at me. It puts a lot on me, and it’s all there. I’ve just got to go out there and do it, and that makes me feel good.

“It’s pressure, but it’s a 'want-it' pressure because if I didn’t feel pressure, I’d probably be with a race team that didn’t have high expectations, and I want to work for a race team that has high expectations.”

Almirola, who is driving in just 12 of 36 points races this season, admits it is still tough at times to sit back and watch someone else drive on days when the car is running up front.

One such occasion was last Sunday’s Camping World RV 400 at Dover International Speedway, where Martin finished fourth after getting as high as second in the closing laps.

“It is hard, but as the same time I learn so much,” Almirola said. “I learn so much about pit strategy and how the race track acted throughout the course of the day and what we had to do as a race team to keep up with the race car and the race track, so I learn something every week, and I don’t regret the decision I’ve made to run a part-time schedule. It has paid off. I’m going to run full time next year, and I’m excited about it.”

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1 response to "Aric Almirola eager to sign sponsor for 2009 season".

1

Barb Kinney said:
Sep 24, 2008 at 7:35 PM
Good luck to Aric and the rest of the DEI drivers in 2009.
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