2014 Driver Reviews: No. 16 Aric Almirola

After doing exit interviews for Sprint Cup Series drivers in 2013, we’re turning the tables. We want the drivers to sell themselves. So here are the resumés for all full-time Sprint Cup Series drivers in 2014. Then, at the end, we’ll provide a summation of the driver’s season in 150 words or less.

Name: Aric Almirola

NASCAR Experience: Parts of seven seasons in the Sprint Cup Series, including three full-time.

Most recent team: Richard Petty Motorsports

Most recent season finish: 16th

2014 accomplishments: Making the Chase! Though we won’t talk about what happened when the Chase began. Also finished third at Bristol during caution-light-rain-gate.

Most memorable moment: Winning at Daytona in July, duh. Though what can a guy do to win a race that’s driven the full distance? Both NASCAR wins aren’t, uh, complete.

Strengths: Has shown speed on 1.5-mile tracks and three of five career top-five finishes have come at short tracks.

2015 goals: Make the Chase again to prove that the 2014 win and subsequent Chase appearance wasn’t a fluke.

FTM’s Take: We hesitate to use the f word that was just used above again, but Almirola’s win in 2015 seems closer to that than it does to the start of a trend.

No, it’s not a slam against the No. 43 team, either. It’s just that we’ve seen how the roulette wheel spins at restrictor plate tracks, and Almirola wasn’t consistently competitive at the other types of tracks in 2014. He led a total of 23 laps and 19 of them were at Daytona in either February or July.

A win in 2015 isn’t impossible by any means. But for it to happen outside of a fuel strategy game or at a restrictor plate track again, RPM is going to need some significant speed improvements.

Previous reviews: No. 17 Kyle Larson, No. 18, Jamie McMurray, No. 19 Clint Bowyer, No. 20, Austin Dillon, No. 21 Paul Menard, No. 22 Brian Vickers, No. 23 Marcos Ambrose, No. 24 Martin Truex Jr., No. 25 Tony Stewart, No. 26 Casey Mears, No. 27 Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 28, Danica Patrick, No. 29, Justin Allgaier, No. 30, David Gilliland, No. 31 Cole Whitt, No. 32 David Ragan, No. 33 Michael Annett, No. 34 Reed Sorenson, No. 35 Alex Bowman