TALLADEGA, Ala. – Before Sunday’s race, Richard Petty Motorsports had suffered through 31 races without a top-10 finish
Drivers Brian Scott and Aric Almirola changed that. Scott ran a perfectly crafted race and finished second to Joey Logano, and Almirola came home eighth after working his way forward during the final 40 laps of the Hellman’s 500.
“A good finish always helps,” Scott said. “It helps with the team. It helps with the guys at the shop, the morale. Just trying to get any bit of a bright spot in this year has been difficult. I think that this is by far the brightest spot that we’ve had in a really challenging 2016 for Richard Petty Motorsports.
“I don’t know. … I guess the results and what this does for us going forward is yet to be determined. But just proud. I mean, the guys have worked hard all year. They’ve deserved a lot better finishes than we’ve given them. Just proud to deliver a good, solid top five, to do my job behind the wheel to give us a shot at the win—just have a good day for Richard Petty Motorsports.”
Scott’s previous best finish in his first 48 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts was 12th, most recently at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., in March.
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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