Homestead Post-Race Quotes

ARIC ALMIROLA, No. 9 Budweiser Ford Fusion
Finished 4th
"This is awesome. Working with Kenny Francis and all the guys on this Budweiser team has been a pleasure. They have fast race cars. Really fast race cars. Richard Petty Motorsports should be very proud of themselves. I know they are going through a lot, but they are going to get this race team turned around. They have great equipment, great people and they are going to be successful."

WAS IT NERVE RACKING RACING AROUND THE CHAMPIONSHIP CONTENDERS? "Oh my gosh, it was. I was so conscious to not make a mistake. I made several today and we were able to rebound. It felt like we had a car capable of winning. All in all it was a great day and I am proud of all my guys on this team to step in and let me fill in on this team has been fun. I have learned a lot and it has been awesome."

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AJ ALLMENDINGER, No. 43 Insignia/Best Buy Ford Fusion
Finished 5th
"That was pretty wild. We were pretty good in the beginning and then about the third run in we got so loose it was almost like something broke on the race car. We were so loose and we tried everything to fix it. We basically flipped this thing upside down. I give all the credit to Mike Shiplett who kept me calm and pep talked me. I was frustrated and it was tough out there but he kept working on it and throwing things at it and finally we hit something at the end. It still wasn't great but we got it raceable and we got a little lucky with that yellow to get us track position and a top five."

THAT IS A PRETTY EXCITING WAY TO END YOUR YEAR ON WHAT HAS BEEN A BIT OF A CRAZY SEASON FOR YOU ISN'T IT? "Yeah, all the credit goes to my race team and all the guys back at the shop. Credit goes to Ford, Insignia, Best Buy and Valvoline too. This team could have easily fallen apart and fought and just dismantled itself, but I feel like we became stronger and when we figure this stuff out back at the shop we will get this race team back where it needs to be and I think we will be that much stronger for having gone through this."

Credit - Ford Racing