Gibbs Didn't Have Sure Deal For Almirola

By TONY FABRIZIO The Tampa Tribune

Published: Jul 19, 2007

Joe Gibbs Racing wasn't certain it could find sponsorship to run Tampa's Aric Almirola full time in the Busch Series next year and didn't see him as an immediate candidate for a Nextel Cup ride if one of its cars became available.

That's why the team allowed Almirola to leave for Ginn Racing, JGR president J.D. Gibbs said Wednesday.

"What I didn't want to do is get three months down the road and have to say, 'OK, you missed this deal to go to Ginn, and we don't have a full deal for you,'" Gibbs said.

Ginn announced Tuesday night it has signed Almirola and that the 23-year-old will share its Army-sponsored No. 01 Chevrolet with Mark Martin starting immediately. Almirola had a contract with JGR, so he needed to obtain a release to make the move.

As part of the agreement, Almirola will run the five remaining Busch races he was scheduled to do for Gibbs.

"For us, it was kind of, 'Look, this is a good opportunity for Aric,' and really, for me, what makes it a good opportunity is Mark Martin," Gibbs said. "In talking to Mark and knowing how involved he's going to be and how much he likes Aric, this could be a big help to Aric."

Almirola often had been mentioned as a candidate for a fourth JGR car in Nextel Cup or for the team's No. 18 car if winless J.J. Yeley is replaced after this year. But Gibbs said a fourth Cup team won't come until at least 2009 and that Almirola probably wouldn't have gotten the nod if one of the existing cars became available.

"I think he could probably still use a little more time [racing below Nextel Cup]," Gibbs said. "What he really needs is a full season in Busch. That's what we were hoping to get him next year - a full Busch deal and with some Cup stuff in there. We don't have that right now. I think we were going to get it, but I couldn't say for sure."

Gibbs said he considers Almirola's ascension to Nextel Cup a success for the diversity program started by JGR and the late Reggie White in 2003. Almirola, who is of Cuban descent, is the first driver from NASCAR's diversity initiatives to work his way to the top from the grass-roots level of late-model racing.

"I'm kind of excited because here's a guy who's going to drive in Cup," Gibbs said. "We would have loved for that to have been with us, but in reality, the best thing in the sport is to get him in there somewhere instead of being stuck running a partial schedule next year, which does nobody any good."

Almirola is on vacation and wasn't available for comments, JGR spokesman Mike Arning said, but in a statement issued by the team, he thanked Gibbs for getting him to the Nextel Cup level by "giving me a chance at a time when I had a lot of desire but little money."