Graceway Pharmaceuticals will return as the primary sponsor for the No. 15 Billy Ballew Motorsports Toyota Tundra for the inaugural Lucas Oil 200 at Iowa Speedway Saturday, September 5, 2009.
Aric Almirola will return to pilot the No. 15 Graceway Pharmaceuticals entry at the 7/8-mile racetrack in Newton, Iowa. Almirola comes off his fifth top-10 finish for Billy Ballew Motorsports at Chicagoland Speedway, he has also posted three top-five finishes in seven starts in 2009.
"Graceway is excited to once again sponsor the No. 15 driven by Aric Almirola. Aric has a massive amount of talent and a proven ability to work his way through the pack into a top 10 finish regardless of what a track, his truck or the competitors can throw at him," Greg Jones, Senior Vice President, Business Development at Graceway Pharmaceuticals said. "According to NASCAR Loop Statistics Aric has proven to be an unstoppable force in the last 10 percent of a race and he has put on a show for all the Graceway fans at both Bristol and Chicago."
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will make its first start at the Newton, Iowa race track designed by former NASCAR Champion Rusty Wallace. But Almirola has one prior start at the Iowa Speedway in 2009 in the NASCAR Nationwide Series.
"I can't wait to go back to Iowa Speedway," Almirola said. "The Speedway staff does a great job putting on the NASCAR races. It was great to have a new track added to our list of venues we get to race at. And Iowa Speedway has figured out quick how to accommodate the fans. They have great racing and concerts in the fan walk area every night I was there for the Nationwide race weekend. And you can't ignore that the Iowa fans are passionate about their racing!
"I also want to thank Graceway Pharmaceuticals for coming onboard with Billy Ballew Motorsports for the past few races. I hope to bring home a solid finish for them this weekend in Iowa.
"The track is awesome already to race on, and will only get better after more and more races are on the surface. You can get two-wide and move around because of the progressive banking."
Almirola also likes the Iowa track because it brings back fond memories of growing up racing with his father Ralph Almirola and grandfather, "abuelo" Sam Rodriguez. Aric's "abuelo" Sam raced Sprint Cars and competed several times at the nearby Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa. The track is known for the annual Knoxville Nationals Sprint Car races held each year.
Graceway Pharmaceuticals, LLC will be the primary sponsor for No. 15 in Iowa and has also announced that the company will be the primary associate sponsor of the No. 51 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Toyota Tundra for the remainder of the 2009 Series season.
The inaugural Lucas Oil 200 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Iowa Speedway is slated for Saturday, September 5, 2009 beginning at 9:00pm CT. SPEED will provide live televised coverage beginning at 8:30pm CT with MRN and Sirius Satellite Radio joining at 8:45pm CT.
