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Earnhardt Ganassi Racing's Aric Almirola continues search for primary sponsor
By Bob Pockrass - Associate Editor
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Earnhardt Ganassi Racing's Aric Almirola is currently 35th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings after the first four races of the 2009 season.
Jerry Markland
Getty Images for NASCAR
Earnhardt Ganassi Racing has sponsorship for Aric Almirola for the upcoming NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Bristol and Martinsville and will definitely enter him April 5 at Texas, but his schedule beyond Texas is still pending sponsorship, EGR President Steve Lauletta says.
Dale Earnhardt Inc. had intended to run Almirola the full 2009 season, but after the partnership with Chip Ganassi Racing was formed last November, Almirola’s situation has been cloudy with no full-time sponsor.
Almirola has 22 career Cup starts, and the No. 8 team currently is 36th in the owner points. Lauletta confirmed that Almirola will have Champion on the car for Bristol and then Guitar Hero: Metallica for Martinsville, but he wouldn’t elaborate on those companies’ plans for future events.
He said the team still needs sponsorship to get past Texas.
Almirola failed to finish two of the first three races but had a decent performance at Atlanta with a 21st-place finish.
“We started late, and obviously the economy and the fact that we had to prove [ourselves] as a team, between the three cars, that we’re going to be as competitive as we need to be on the race track to deliver the value to the sponsors,” Lauletta said in a phone interview.
“It’s not about Aric being unproven or not having a full season under his belt. It’s just the matter of the time it takes to get things done, even if we’re talking about one or two or three races. Obviously the goal would be to not do these one or two [races] at a time but to find someone to jump on board for a larger number of races.”
Having sponsors for the next two races shows that sponsors are interested in Almirola, Lauletta said.
Lauletta said that Almirola's story of coming through the Joe Gibbs Racing diversity program and his down-to-earth personality have worked well to engage and attract discussions with sponsors.
“[The new two sponsorships] allow us to keep telling that story [of Almirola],” Lauletta said. “If the continues to do better on the track – as proven at Atlanta, we obviously need to get a good run at Bristol to get that last little bit closed to get in the top 35 in points – we have a lot of dialogue going on right now and just need to get a few more deals closed to keep things going.
“We’re just building on the momentum with the sponsors that we have so far.”
EGR is in discussions with several companies, especially for later this year, Lauletta said.
“We’re already having conversations with several companies that would be in position to take maybe even the whole second half or a large chunk of that,” Lauletta said. “What we have to do is get there, and right now we’re getting there by getting as many people to sample what we’re all about and what the sport is all about. Thus far, those that have done it, it has been a great success.”
Lauletta said he met with the team this week to discuss the situation.
“Everybody in the shop knows the situation we’re in, everybody on the team does, Aric does,” Lauletta said. “They have done a tremendous job of staying focused and doing all they can do in every way shape or form with the sponsors we’ve signed and the sponsors we’re trying to sign to help the process along.”
Mentioned Drivers: Aric Almirola
2009 Sprint Cup Race for the Chase Standings
Driver Standings after the Checker O'Reilly Auto Parts 500
| 1 | Jimmie Johnson | 6492 |
| 2 | Mark Martin | -108 |
| 3 | Jeff Gordon | -169 |
| 4 | Kurt Busch | -211 |
| 5 | Tony Stewart | -285 |
| 6 | Juan Pablo Montoya | -289 |
| 7 | Greg Biffle | -321 |
| 8 | Denny Hamlin | -352 |
| 9 | Ryan Newman | -411 |
| 10 | Kasey Kahne | -476 |
| 11 | Carl Edwards | -520 |
| 12 | Brian Vickers | -666 |
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5 responses to "Earnhardt Ganassi Racing's Aric Almirola continues search for primary sponsor ". Post a Comment.
Bernie said:
Mar 12, 2009 at 3:02 PMGo see if Roush/Fenway will share...NOT!
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» Confirm Abuse ReportWerner Boehmert said:
Mar 12, 2009 at 4:18 PMinteresting comment...i don't understand it, but interesting...
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» Confirm Abuse ReportBernie said:
Mar 12, 2009 at 5:52 PMThat's what my husband usually says. He married it, now he has to live with it:-)
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» Confirm Abuse ReportJozef Colomy said:
Mar 12, 2009 at 8:20 PMWhat does Roush have to do with this? Sure they have a lot of sponsors, but they also umm perform on track! I feel bad for Almirola, he's a good driver, but he's a victim of circumstance and the cards just have not been getting dealt in his favor. I hope he has good finishes these next few weeks
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» Confirm Abuse ReportAlan Wade said:
Mar 13, 2009 at 3:01 AMAlmirola seems to be a good kid. You know times are tough, but if he is a racer he will make it through. I feel sorry for all the DEI drivers that came to EGR, they have a big challenge ahead due to the fact that DEI was running on empty for some time. After Dale Sr. died... so did DEI and neither Jr or anybody else could have saved that organization. When you put more effort into your "Equestrian Division" than the racing side it eventually shows. I also feel sorry for Chip Ganassi to have to inherit such a mess. They were really hurting to absorb DEI, the most valuable thing they got was a name thats all...
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