Almirola practically skips Food City 500 Happy Hour

Aric Almirola logged only eight laps in Bristol's Happy Hour and that would seem to suggest this unsponsored team will start and park.

Our View We are reporting this because he was fast enough in Happy Hour and did a long enough run to make us consider him as a dark horse. Running only eight laps, however, suggest this team is not serious about racing on Sunday.

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Almirola a dark horse?

Keep an eye on Aric Almirola during Happy Hour: he posted the 14th quickest average speed of 119.349 mph during 36 laps of practice and could be one of the most surprising dark horses of the weekend.

Keep an eye on Aric Almirola during Happy Hour: he posted the 14th quickest average speed of 119.349 mph during 36 laps of practice and could be one of the most surprising dark horses of the weekend.

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Almirola, Mears and Cook go home from Atlanta

Three drivers failed to make the Coca-Cola 600: Aric Almirola, Casey Mears and Terry Cook failed to find enough speed to qualify.

Our View Neither Mears nor Cook have made a single race this year.

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N'Wide: early caution in Iowa

Caution has waved early in Iowa, with an incident between Mike Harmon, Aric Almirola and Brad Coleman, according to a tweet from @NascarNNS.

Our View Harmon sustained the most damage, but Coleman is in the stronger car. He's driving the Joe Gibbs' No. 20 and would be considered a dark horse contender for a top-five. Let's hope his damage is not great.

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N'Wide: Former Milwaukee winners

The Milwaukee Mile is one of the most famous racetracks in America, and with rumors circulating that this could be its last Nationwide race for a while, drivers are going to be highly motivated to take the checkered flag. We'll have to wait and see if Kyle Busch burns it in victory lane if he should win.

The final Milwaukee trophy is only one incentive, however. Less than a handful of Claim Jumpers will be in the race this week, so the Nationwide Regulars are going to pull their gloves a little higher and climb up on the wheel to make sure that their name gets etched in the record books.

The successful racer will stand alongside legends like Sam Ard, Jack Ingram, and modern superstars such as Carl Edwards and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Former Winners

Season	Race	Driver
2008	Camping World RV Rental 250	Carl Edwards
2007	AT&T 250	Aric Almirola *
2006	AT&T 250	Paul Menard
2005	SBC 250	Johnny Sauter
2004	Alan Kulwicki 250	Ron Hornaday Jr.
2003	GNC Live Well 250	Jason Keller
2002	GNC Live Well 250	Greg Biffle
2001	GNC Live Well 250	Greg Biffle
2000	DieHard 250	Jeff Green
1999	DieHard 250	Casey Atwood
1998	DieHard 250	Dale Earnhardt Jr.
1997	Sears Auto Center 250	Randy LaJoie
1996	Sears Auto Center 250	Buckshot Jones
1995	Sears Auto Center 250	Dale Jarrett
1994	Havoline 250	Mike Wallace
1993	Havoline 250	Steve Grissom
1985	Milwaukee Sentinel 200	Jack Ingram
1984	Red Carpet 200	Sam Ard
	*relieved by Denny Hamlin at sponsor's direction.

Milwaukee's last five races

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N'Wide: Milwaukee's last five races

Milwaukee has been host to some of the most competitive races in recent years, and perhaps one of its lowest points.

While the Claim Jumping Cup drivers are in Infineon Raceway, the Nationwide Regulars get a chance to shine, but that wasn't to be in 2007—and the source of the frustration came from an unlikely angle. Making the long commute, Denny Hamlin got to the track late and could not get into the car in time for the race.

Aric Almirola qualified and started the No. 20, but that wasn't to the sponsor's liking, so with heavy pressure from Rockwell Automation, he was brought into the pits on lap 59 and replaced with Hamlin. To add injury to insult the tandem won, but Almirola has never really been able to relish his first—and so far only—Nationwide Series win. The next year, he left Joe Gibbs Racing for Dale Earnhardt, Inc.

This year, only two Claim Jumpers are expected to make the long trip from Infineon. One of them is last year's winner Carl Edwards, so the Cup dominance of the second series could continue.

Average finish, last five races

Driver	Avg Finish	2008	2007	2006	2005	2004
Aric Almirola *	1.00		1
Joey Logano	2.00	2
Paul Menard	2.00			1	3
J J Yeley	3.50			3	4
Denny Hamlin *	4.00			2	6
Shane Hmiel	4.00					4
Martin Truex Jr	5.50				2	9
Todd Bodine	6.00		6
Randy LaJoie	7.00				7
Greg Biffle	7.00					7
Danny O'Quinn Jr	7.00			7
David Reutimann	7.33	5	7	10
Jason Keller	7.50	9	5		13	3
Brad Keselowski	8.00	8
Jason Leffler	8.00	10	3	4		15
Johnny Benson Jr	9.00		9
Shane Huffman	10.00		10
Clint Bowyer	10.25	3		18	10	10
Carl Edwards	11.00	1	8	21	14
Jay Sauter	11.00			11
Bobby Hamilton Jr	11.00	15	13			5
Mike Wallace	11.25	18	11	5		11
Hermie Sadler	12.00					12
John Andretti	12.00			12
Reed Sorenson	12.00				12
David Green	12.00			17	11	8
Scott Wimmer	12.33	6	2	29
Mike Bliss	12.67	7	25			6
Stephen Leicht	13.50		14	13
Johnny Sauter	13.67			9	1	31
Robert Pressley	14.00					14
James Buescher	14.00	14
Brad Coleman	14.50	25	4
Auggie Vidovich	15.00			15
Marcos Ambrose	15.50	16	15
Ashton Lewis	15.67			16	18	13
Justin Labonte	16.00				16
Kevin Hamlin	16.00		16
David Stremme	16.75	34		26	5	2
Bill Elliott	17.00				17
Stacy Compton	17.00			6	25	20
Kenny Wallace	17.25	28		8	8	25
David Ragan	17.33	4	12		36
Cale Gale	17.50	12	23
Ron Hornaday Jr	18.00		36	20	15	1
Stanton Barrett	18.67	17			21	18
Richard Johns	19.00		19
Kevin Harvick	19.00			19
Tracy Hines	19.00				19
Jon Wood	20.00			14	26
Kyle Busch	20.00			24		16
Marc Mitchell	20.00		20
Aaron Fike	20.00				20
Chase Miller	20.00	23	17
Bryan Clauson	20.00	20
Kelly Bires	20.50	11	30
Todd Kluever	20.50		18	23
Colin Braun	21.00	21
Todd Szegedy	21.00					21
Mark Green	21.25	13	21		28	23
Tony Raines	21.50				9	34
Landon Cassill	22.00	22
Scott Lagasse	22.00				22
Tim Fedewa	22.00				27	17
Bobby East	22.00		22
Ryan Hemphill	23.00				23
Steve Wallace	23.67	19	27	25
Brandon Miller	24.00				24
D J Kennington	25.00	24	26
Regan Smith	25.50			22	29
Bobby Dotter	26.00					26
Kevin Lepage	26.00	26
Jimmy Kitchens	27.00					27
Brian Keselowski	27.00	27
Tim Sauter	27.67			27	37	19
Gus Wasson	28.00					28
Tim McCreadie	28.00		28
Erin Crocker	28.00			28
Trevor Boys	29.00		29
Jason White	29.50			30		29
Michel Jourdain Jr	30.00				30
Steve Grissom	31.00				38	24
Wade Day	31.00				31
Joel Kauffman	31.00			31
Travis Kittleson	31.00	31
Eric McClure	31.33	29	31		34
Casey Atwood	32.00					32
Brent Sherman	32.00		32
A J Fike	32.00				32
John Hayden	32.00			32
Josh Wise	33.00	33
Kyle Krisiloff	33.00		24		42
Robert Richardson	33.00		33
Mark McFarland	33.00			33
Eddie Beahr	33.00					33
Frank Kreyer	34.00		34
Derrike Cope	34.00	38	43	34	33	22
Scott Lagasse Jr	35.00		35
Bryan Reffner	35.00				35
William Hoff	35.00					35
Burney Lamar	35.50	36		35
Justin Ashburn	36.50	43				30
Ian Henderson	37.00		37
Morgan Shepherd	37.00	37
Brad Teague	37.20	30	39	38	43	36
Jerick Johnson	37.67	35	41	37
Mike Potter	39.00	32	42			43
Butch Jarvis	39.00					39
Johnny Chapman	39.00	39
Kertus Davis	39.00	42		36	39
Chris Horn	39.50		40	39
J C Stout	40.00	40
Kim Crosby	40.00			40
Josh Richeson	40.00					40
Tyler Walker	40.00				40
Chad Beahr	40.50				44	37
Jeff Fuller	41.00				41	41
James Hylton	41.00			41
Terry Cook	41.00	41
Mike Harmon	41.33	48	38			38
Jason Schuler	42.00					42
Danny Efland	44.00		44
Ruben Pardo	44.00	44
Kenny Hendrick	45.00	45
Todd Shafer	45.00				45
Andy Ponstein	46.00	46
Chad Chaffin	47.00	47
*In 2007, Denny Hamlin relieved Aric Almirola at sponsor's direction even though Almirola led most of that race.

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Almirola wants back in

Aric Almirola has been wandering around the garage area at Lowe's, wondering how he can get back in a NASCAR Cup ride, according to SceneDaily.com.

Our View: Almirola is a solid mid-cap pick, especially on the short tracks so it would be nice to see Dale Earnhardt, Inc. get a sponsor and field the No. 8.