Aric Almirola and the No. 10 Smithfield Ford Fusion team for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) head to Dover (Del.) International Speedway this weekend coming off of his fourth top-10 result this season. This weekend’s stop at Dover, affectionately known as the “Monster Mile,” marks the first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race of the season in the northeast region of the United States.
Almirola heads to the Delmarva Peninsula Thursday morning to participate in Artie Kempner’s Drive for Autism Awareness golf tournament, marking the 17th year of the celebrity pro-am event that is Autism Delaware’s largest single fundraiser.
A No. 10 Smithfield Ford Fusion will greet fans at the Monster Monument in Victory Plaza as they enter the front grounds of the Delaware track. A replica of the Almirola’s racecar was hoisted 46 feet off the ground and into Miles the Monster’s right hand April 17 as part of a media and fan event at the track.
Sunday, Almirola and team SHR co-owner Tony Stewart will gather in front of Miles to unveil a customized Ford Mustang as part of Smithfield’s Smoke Machine Mustang giveaway. Almirola and Stewart will both be made available to the media beginning at 11:15 a.m. EDT. Fans can enter for their chance to win the Mustang designed by Stewart with the help of drifting champion Vaughn Gittin Jr. They built a one-of-a-kind Ford Mustang RTR Spec 3 that will be given away to one lucky fan. Fans can begin registering Sunday for their chance to win the supped-up Mustang and a trip to November’s Ford Championship Weekend at Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway by visiting SmithfieldRacing.com, or by texting SMOKE to 82257.
Fans also continue to have the opportunity to enter Smithfield’s “Hero of the Grill” contest that Almirola and five-time world-champion barbecue pitmaster Tuffy Stone helped launch last week to kick off the summer grilling season. Almirola and Stone launched Smithfield’s “Hero of the Grill” campaign, in which fans are encouraged to nominate their favorite grill hero by visiting SmithfieldGetGrilling.com. One “Hero of the Grill” nominee will win $5,000. Plus, the first 10,000 nominees will have the chance to see their name featured on Almirola’s No. 10 Smithfield Ford at Richmond (Va.) Raceway in September.
Dover marks the ninth weekend the Smithfield livery has adorned Almirola’s No. 10 Ford Fusion. Smithfield, a brand of Smithfield Foods, which is based approximately five hours northeast of SHR headquarters in Smithfield, Virginia, is in its seventh season with Almirola and its first with SHR. Founded in 1936, Smithfield is a leading provider of high-quality pork products, with a vast product portfolio including smoked meats, hams, bacon, sausage, ribs, and a wide variety of fresh pork cuts.
The concrete mile oval at Dover, with a horse track circling inside it, is one of Almirola’s favorite tracks on the circuit to pilot his 3,300-pound stock car around. He’s accumulated two top-five finishes and three top-10s there, and has completed 98.6 percent of all possible laps in 11 starts. SHR has two victories at Dover – Stewart in June 2013 and Kevin Harvick in October 2015 – and has amassed five top-fives and 15 top-10s in 54 starts.
Almirola, the Tampa native, has four NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Dover and finished inside the top-15 each time. He has two starts in the Camping World Truck Series at Dover, capturing his second NASCAR national series win by driving a Truck into victory lane there in May 2010. His only other Dover start in the series resulted in a 12th-place finish.
Ford has earned 25 all-time Cup Series wins at Dover. Last weekend’s win at Talladega Superspeedway by Ford driver Joey Logano gave the blue oval a series-best five victories this season, with four of those being earned by SHR – Harvick has three wins and Clint Bowyer one.
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