"I want to run Nextel Cup, and I want to be the best I can be," he said. "I've been that way since I was a little kid. I don't ever play anything to finish Second. I want to be the best, and in stock car racing, Nextel Cup is the best you can be. That's where I see myself going. Where I am now, I would say I'm on the right track to do so. I have my foot in the door with a great company, I work with great sponsors [such as] Home Depot, Rockwell Automation, Coca-Cola, and CINTAS, and it's a big stepping stone in the right direction.
"Last year at this time, I was racing Super Late Models at home in Florida on my own budget. To be racing for Joe Gibbs Racing and doing the things I'm doing with the sponsors I have is a lot of fun. I'm really enjoying it, and it's a big step in the right direction."
United ProgramsThe program, which is an extension of the JGR driver development program, is headed by driver coach Lake Speed Sr., who has been there and done that in Nextel Cup racing. The game plan, according to team officials, is to keep the program in place for 2005 and evaluate it at the end of the season.
The program began in Late Models because of the abundance of seat time Almirola and Bristol, 27, get there. Almirola, by virtue of his performance and experience, will travel more in 2005 while Bristol will campaign another season at Caraway.
The alternative was to take both drivers and throw them into the Craftsman Truck Series, where seat time would be at a premium while they learned the game. To further speed matters, the diversity team will move into the same shop as the Gibbs Busch team this season, giving Almirola and Bristol the opportunity to learn the next level from the ground up. Busch Series drivers J.J. Yeley and Denny Hamlin will be based there, as well as the team engineers and mechanics, and that will allow both drivers to soak up more information.
Hamlin, who takes over Mike Bliss' ride this season, is a product of the driver development program at JGR, and it was his equipment that Gibbs bought for the diversity team. Hamlin set up the cars for the test at Hickory where Almirola and Bristol earned their rides, and according to Ed Fennell, director of communications for Joe Gibbs Performance, Hamlin was under the track record while doing it.
Hamlin earned his way into a variety of rides with Gibbs in 2004, including the Truck Series and Busch Series as well as ARCA. His success there earned him the Busch ride, and that is the same progression envisioned for Almirola and Bristol.
"This is the best way. The most successful way we could see to grow our diversity program was to start them off in Late Models, versus the way some other folks have done it," Fennell said. "We just didn't want to put them out there and have them running around.
"We're not running in the top three series in NASCAR, but we have probably the most successful diversity program out there right now," Fennell continued. "They are getting a lot of support from the Busch program and the Cup guys. [Chief engine builder] Mark Cronquist and a lot of our engineers spend a lot of time with these guys and work with them as best they can."
Gibbs' Nextel Cup drivers are also playing a role in the diversity program. Tony Stewart, Bobby Labonte, and Jason Leffler all spend time with the diversity team whenever possible, and the hope is that attention will pay off down the road.
The bigger question when speaking of diversity in NASCAR is why minorities have had such a hard time getting involved in the sport. Almirola took a shot at the answer.