Aric Almirola NASCAR Nationwide Series Advance: 
Iowa Speedway 

Monday, July 26, 2009

FIRST TIME – This weekend the NASCAR Nationwide Series will pay its first visit to Iowa Speedway. The 7/8th-mile track, modeled after Richmond International Raceway, is 30 miles east of Des Moines and seats over 25,000. This weekend’s U.S. Cellular 250 is expected to be the biggest race in Iowa racing history.

ONE MILE AND UNDER– Although driver Aric Almirola has never made a lap in a Nationwide Series car at Iowa Speedway, he has found success at short tracks in the series. Almirola’s two starts for Key Motorsports this season at Milwaukee (1-mile) and ORP (0.686-mile) have resulted in top-15 finishes, and he holds 3 career NNS poles at tracks one mile or shorter.

CHASSIS INFORMATION – Key Motorsports will be utilizing chassis #050 at this weekend's race at Iowa Speedway. This is the same chassis Almirola raced at The Milwaukee Mile and O’Reilly Raceway Park, earning 11th and 14th place finishes, respectively.

POINTS UPDATE – The No. 40 moved up to 22nd in the NNS owner points after this weekend’s 14th place finish at Iowa Speedway. Curtis Key’s entry now sits 297 points inside the top-30.

SPONSOR UPDATE – For the second race in a row, Westerman Companies will serve as primary sponsor on the No. 40 Chevrolet this weekend at Iowa Speedway. This is the veteran sponsor’s third NNS race of the 2009 season.

THE STORK IS COMING – Congratulations are in order for Lindsay, Jesse, and their family. Lindsay has gone into labor and will soon be delivering their baby boy.

Aric Almirola Quotes:

ON IOWA SPEEDWAY – "It’s going to be awesome to go to a new track on the NASCAR Nationwide Series circuit. I've only been on the track to test a COT car a year or so ago. Just from my past experience at Iowa, it's similar to Richmond and I really like racing at Richmond. So I'm really looking forward to another solid finish in the No. 40 Chevrolet."

Race length: 250 Laps/ 218.75 Miles
Track layout: 0.875-mile Shape: Tri-Oval

Schedule:

Thursday:
Practice: 1:30 PM-7:30 PM ET

Friday:
Practice: 1:30 PM-3:30 PM ET
Final Practice: 6:00 PM-7:00 PM ET

Saturday:
Qualifying: 1:05 PM ET
Race: 4:30 PM ET

Race Coverage:
TV: ESPN - Radio: MRN