Jared Turner: Should Martin give Almirola more races this season?
By Jared Turner - Staff Writer
Sunday, March 23, 2008
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COMMENTARY
It's hard not to respect Mark Martin.
The man is one of the best drivers to ever wheel a stock car. He is an undisputed leader in the Sprint Cup garage area and one of a depleted number of competitors willing to accept responsibility when they mess up.
And Dale Earnhardt Inc. is more fortunate to have Martin than he is to have Dale Earnhardt Inc.
But after Aric Almirola's eighth-place finish in last Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Bristol Motor Speedway, DEI officials should get ready to sit Martin in favor of Almirola for the majority of the season's remaining races.
As it stands today, Martin is slated to drive 24 points events in the iconic No. 8 car; Almirola is down for 12.
Why not flip-flop schedules? It wouldn't be a popular decision for many fans, and surely the sponsor would have something to say. But it would be the best move for Almirola's future in the sport.
The Tampa, Fla., native, who celebrated his 24th birthday nine days ago, overcame incredible odds in the Food City 500. Making just his fourth start in NASCAR's new car and his seventh in Cup, period, Almirola also faced the daunting test of keeping his Chevy's sheet metal intact on one of the circuit's trickiest tracks.
In a phone interview with Tony Gibson last week, the crew chief for the No. 8 car said the team's goal was merely to leave Bristol with a top-20 finish. Clearly, Almirola accomplished that mission with flying colors. He also topped Martin's best result of the season, a 10th-place finish at Las Vegas – a place widely considered more forgiving than Bristol.
So just what if Almirola went to Martinsville Speedway for next weekend's Cup race and led every lap en route to a runaway victory?
Unlikely as such a feat is, DEI is unlikely to let Almirola run more races than originally planned – even if he pulled off a mini-miracle.
But think how valuable seat time at venues such as Darlington, Dover and Daytona – all places where Almirola is penciled to play little more than a cheerleader's role this season – could ease Almirola's learning curve.
How can Almirola build confidence, chemistry and the respect of his competitors by sitting on the sidelines?
Bear in mind: If Martin couldn't run a partial schedule, he wouldn't be driving at all. That's the only reason he left his longtime ride at Roush Racing for Ginn Racing – and ultimately DEI – in the first place.
In fact, Martin was going to retire at the end of 2005 if former car owner Jack Roush hadn't convinced him to come back for another year.
As recent as two weekends ago at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Martin was adamant about the fact that he now loves a partial schedule and wouldn't change it for anything.
So why not make his schedule a little more partial? There's no way that the difference between 12 and 24 races would mean as much to Martin's career as Almirola's.
Consider that Almirola succinctly summed up the experience of not driving for four months (the off-season plus the first four races of 2008) as "painful."
Consider that Almirola – not Martin – is a potentially central component of DEI's future. Consider how Martin Truex Jr., Almirola's senior teammate at DEI, recently assessed the young driver's progress.
"He's a great young kid and I think he's got a lot of talent," Truex said. "He tested at Phoenix with us and ran really well, we worked well together. He absorbed information better than any young guy I've ever seen. He was more open to criticism, comments, and help. I told him two or three things and in five minutes he picked up three tenths, you don't see that very often so that's cool. I was really happy and proud of him for that. Enjoyed working with him, he's going to be good."
For Almirola, logging laps could be the difference between good and great.
- Mentioned Drivers:
- Aric Almirola
Comments
1 response to "Jared Turner: Should Martin give Almirola more races this season? "
* * said:
Mar 23, 2008 at 8:18 PMIf TPTB at DEI were smart they'd move Aric to the #01 and give his schedule in the #8 to Smith. I don't think they're that smart.
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