Aric Almirola to Drive the Legendary #43 car in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
According to reports at ESPN Richard Petty Motorsports (RPM) has hired Aric Almirola to drive their flagship #43 in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. RPM has chosen Aric Almirola over Cup Veterans, David Ragan, David Reutimann and Brian Vickers who were also looking for a ride in the Cup series.
Last season Aric Almirola drove the JR motorsports #88 in the Nationwide series and finished the season 4th in points. The season before he drove in the Camping World Truck series and finished second in points. In hiring Aric, RPM is taking a chance on an up and coming driver as opposed to using a veteran.
Although this development is somewhat surprising, RPM is familiar with him because he took over driving duties for the #9 Budweiser Ford from Kasey Kane for the last 5 races of the 2010 season. His highest finish was 4th in the last race at Homestead Miami. This is his highest finish in his 25 Sprint Cup starts.
This seat opened up when RPM lost its sponsor Best Buy and A.J. Allmendinger left to take over driving duties of the #22 Penske Racing Dodge Pennzoil Car.
Getting lost in the Silly Season Shuffle is the fact that since A.J. left, that means the #43 will not be in the Season Opening Shootout at Daytona. The entries to The Shootout are by Driver points. Since A.J. was in the top 25 the #22 Dodge will still be in the Shootout.
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