Sunday will tell the tale

July 25, 2015 Greg Engle Main Page, NASCAR News Top Story, Top Stories 0

Aric Almirola stands on pit road during qualifying for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Crown Royal Presents the Jeff Kyle 400 at the Brickyard at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 25, 2015 in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Aric Almirola stands on pit road during qualifying for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Crown Royal Presents the Jeff Kyle 400 at the Brickyard at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 25, 2015 in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Aric Almirola stands on pit road during qualifying for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Crown Royal Presents the Jeff Kyle 400 at the Brickyard at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 25, 2015 in Indianapolis, Indiana.

INDIANAPOLIS –Aric Almirola echoed the sentiments of the vast majority of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers, asserting that the full import of the new high-drag package introduced for Sunday’s race at The Brickyard won’t be known until the green flag waves to start the race.

In three practice sessions totaling 4 hours, 45 minutes on Friday, Cup drivers avoided running in close quarters. Accordingly, they won’t know the effects of the new aerodynamic package until they get a chance to race in heavy traffic.

“We were going slower down the straightaways, which means we were on throttle more in the corners,” Almirola said on Saturday morning, after he and sponsor Eckrich presented U.S. Army veteran Luther Martin and his family with a new Ford Fusion and free groceries for a year as part of Eckrich’s participation in Operation Homefront.

“I think it’ll be interesting to see how the race plays out on Sunday. Any time you go and drive your car by yourself, you can kind of get the balance close, and you can get an idea of what your car is going to drive like. But when the green flag drops for the race is when you’ll really be able to tell if it’s an improvement for the racing or not.”

Greg Engle
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About Greg Engle 7421 Articles
Greg is a published award winning sportswriter who spent 23 years combined active and active reserve military service, much of that in and around the Special Operations community. 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.