No. 75 Spears Manufacturing Silverado Driver Likes Martinsville Speedway

Aric Almirola is excited to get behind the wheel of his No. 75 Spears Manufacturing Silverado at Martinsville Speedway for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Kroger 250. Last fall the 21-year old Tampa, FL native took a real liking to the place after finishing sixth in the annual 300-lap race for late model stock cars the drew over 150 entries.

"I am excited for the Martinsville race," Almirola said. "I enjoy the track. We have a really good truck for the race. I had a pretty good run there last fall in my late model, finishing sixth in the big 300 lap race against a lot of drivers who have much more experience there than I did. It was a cool place to run and is definitely going to be a great place to race my Spears Manufacturing Silverado. I grew up racing on short tracks all over Florida and the Southeast so coming here is like where I started."

Almirola heads to the first short track race of the 2006 NCTS season on the heels of what looked to be a top-10 finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway. A last-lap multi-truck melee took the Rookie of the Year contender from seventh in the finishing order to 18th at the checkered flag.

"We had a great run going at Atlanta," Almirola stated. " My No. 75 Spears Chevy Silverado was running consistent and we were picking up spots at the end. We were really good on long runs. It's just a disappointment for my entire team to get involved in a wreck at the end. I keep getting better every race, I'm learning out there."

In preparation for the Kroger 250, Almirola and his Dave McCarty-led team tested at North Carolina's Caraway Speedway.

"We had a good test at Caraway Speedway preparing for the Martinsville race," concluded Almirola. "Dave McCarty (crew chief), the crew and I worked on getting me very comfortable in the truck and getting our lap times very consistent. I feel good about going to a track for the first time this year that I have been to and raced on. We will be able to spend our time working on the truck getting it better and not have to spend our time waiting for me to learn the track. I am going to have a lot of fun because I love short track racing. I can't wait to get there."

Almirola is "on loan" to the Spears Manufacturing Silverado team from Joe Gibbs Racing where he is a under a driver development contract.