05.15.08 - New York City Here I Come : I haven’t forgotten about my blogs. I’m sorry for such a delay between writing. I don’t mean to be the world’s worst procrastinator but the truth behind that is I am! I tend to say “ah I’ll do that tomorrow.” Next thing you know it’s been like 4 weeks since I have wrote. Well anyways…. Since last time I’ve done a little more racing, I went on vacation to New York city, and I have watched Mark race as well.

I raced at Martinsville but not with as much success as Bristol. Our Army Chevy was really fast at Martinsville but I was a little too rough on it. Qualifying third was good and in the race the car was really fast but Martinsville is tough on equipment and so was I. In one of the numerous wrecks that happened in front of me, I ran into the car in front of me and it poked a hole in our oil cooler. So from that point on less oil was going in the motor and we eventually blew up. I was pretty bummed but at the same time was happy at how fast we were all weekend.

As part of my deal goes with sharing a ride with Mark Martin, I also had to sit out and watch the ole # 8 hit the race track without me. Boy was I jealous too! Mark has been running really well and both at Phoenix and Richmond had a car that was in contention to win all night. Everybody on our U.S. Army team has been working extremely hard to give us competitive race cars and it shows on the race track every weekend. I am very proud to be working with the team that I am surrounded by. I think that it is pretty awesome that we have a car that is flirting with getting into the owners chase with two different drivers. We are 14th in owner points right now. It’s become more popular in the Nationwide series but not in Cup. That says a lot about our team.

We had an off weekend not too long ago and a group of us decided to head for the city. New York City that is! We had a ton of fun. I had never been there so of course we had to do all of the tourist stuff. Right away when we got there my friends and my girlfriend wanted to go on top of the Empire State Building. Only problem is I’m scared of heights. I’ll do all sorts of crazy things on the ground (like drive 200 mph in circles) but you get me more than 20 feet off the ground and I’m nervous. Well a little persuading and a few adult beverages later and I was standing atop the Empire State Building. I’m glad I did, it was beautiful up there and it was just at sunset which made it better I guess. The Statue of Liberty was cool but not worth the wait. I have A.D.D. so a 2 hour wait to go look at a statue was not cool. But it’s one of those things you just have to do. The tourist stuff was ok like Times Square and all of that, but the food was unbelievable. We had to go shopping down 5th Ave. too but I thought it was a little overrated because we have all the same stuff here in Charlotte. But back to the food… I didn’t eat one meal that wasn’t delicious. I figured if I lived there I would have to buy bigger pants to accommodate all the eating, but then I remembered how much we had walked everyday. I think I lost weight on the trip and I ate like a pig. Huge lunch sandwiches from the deli’s, cleaned my plate at every dinner, and every place that advertised they had the best canoli’s I tested it. So needless to say I will be going back to the city for vacation, I’ll just scratch all the tourist stuff.

Back from New York and I was off to Talladega. Talladega is always a fun place to go and race. Our Army Chevrolet drafted pretty well. I started like 30th or something and in 10 laps I was riding around in the top 10. I continued to race in the top 10 until my right front tire went down. That ruined the rest of our day. I got caught speeding leaving pit road and now was 2 laps down. So that turned what could have been a good day into a bad one pretty quickly. Now for the important stuff! On Friday night I went across the street to the Talladega dirt track. I raced in a match race with some of my fellow Sprint Cup drivers and the one and only Red Farmer. I won! I was so excited; I was pumping my fist and acting retarded inside the car after I took the checkered flag. I was driving Jack Sullivan’s car and him and Wendell Wallace are team mates. I’m driving Wendell Wallace’s car at the Prelude to the Dream. It’s a dirt race at Eldora that Tony Stewart puts on every year. It’s pretty cool. Well that’s coming up June 4th and that is the next time I am racing anything. So I’m looking forward to it and hopefully you will cheer me on. Talk to you Later!

A short gallery of images from my vacation : pic 1 | pic 2 | pic 3 | pic 4

03.25.08 - I finally got to Race! : Sorry for the delay in my blogs. It seems like just yesterday I was in California where I wrote last. I was a spectator for much of the last few weeks so I didn’t want to bore you with that. California was ridiculously long thanks to Mother Nature. I got to play some golf in Phoenix on my way to Vegas. Las Vegas was fun as it usually is. Right after Vegas we went to Phoenix for a two day test. Atlanta was a pretty typical weekend. Then finally Bristol came. For a while there I didn’t think Bristol was ever going to come.

I don’t even know what to say about California. It was long, wet, and cold. It was the first race at a big track with the new race car. So everyone was not sure what to expect. To make matters worse we only got like 15 minutes of practice and the rain came, and it kept coming. So everyone went into the race with a lot of questions. The race started on Sunday afternoon and it finally ended Monday afternoon because of the rain. Our Army team did a good job and we left there with a decent run and now knew some more about this car on the bigger tracks.

So I got home late Monday night from California had a day at home, and then that Wednesday I was heading to Phoenix. I went to Phoenix and played golf in Kyle Petty’s golf tournament to raise money for the Victory Junction Gang Camp. It was one of the best golf tournaments I have played in. The course was beautiful and on every hole there was a competition to win a prize. After the tournament I flew right over to Vegas. I was pretty good this go around and didn’t manage to get into much trouble. I didn’t gamble much either (I figured I used up my luck at the test). As for the race it went well. We learned from California and applied it to Vegas. Mark qualified 3rd and ran in the top 10 all day before finishing 10th. So all in all Vegas was good.

Our team loaded up on the plane after the race in Vegas and we went straight to Phoenix for a two day NASCAR test. I was happy now because I got to drive both days at the test. The test went really well and it gave me another chance to work with Tony Gibson (my crew chief) and all the guys on our U.S. Army team. It is so much fun to be around all the guys on this team. We have really good chemistry together in such a short time together because of how fun they are.

A day after the Phoenix test and now we are in Atlanta. It felt so good to just be on east coast time again. Even though I wasn’t at home it was nice to have my internal clock be right. West Coast messes me up when it comes to eating times and sleeping. Not much to talk about with Atlanta. It was a typical race weekend. The Army Chevrolet wasn’t that great. It turned out to be a long day actually. The tire that Goodyear brought was not the best so everybody was hanging on for dear life. As much as I love to race I don’t think I missed much on this one.

We finally made it to Bristol Motor Speedway. I couldn’t wait to hit the race track Friday. I thought it was going to rain our practice out but luckily we got on the track for about half an hour. It was enough to figure out some things so Gibson and the guys went to work and made some changes for Saturday mornings practice. We didn’t get to qualify but I wasn’t worried because we got to start 16th because of it. The changes they made to the U.S. Army Chevrolet were good ones. We were 4th in the first practice and I think 15th in happy hour. We knew we had a good car. We were right, the car was really good and we just made minor changes all day to make it better. I managed to keep the fenders on it and we finished 8th. It felt good to just be on the race track racing. It felt awesome to be running up front. Tony Gibson and the guys on our Army team made my job fun Sunday and that’s all I could ask for. I was probably the second happiest person at Bristol behind Jeff Burton.

I have been enjoying a week off and this past Saturday I went to Mark Martin’s fan day in Batesville, Arkansas. It was nice to see all the fans that support us and the Army team. Other than that it’s been a lot of rest and relaxation (and a little working out). Now I’m pumped up about Martinsville. I hope that we can take the momentum from Bristol and keep it going. I really appreciate everyone’s support and look forward to seeing you at the track.

03.17.08 - Nascar.com Article : Make sure to check out this article about Aric on Nascar.com

02.20.08 - Man oh Man does it feel good to be Home! : It has been a hectic couple of weeks. I never understood people when I was younger when they would say “I just want to sleep in my own bed.” Now I do! The last couple of weeks have been busy to say the least.

The last time I wrote I was just back from Daytona testing. Well I’ve done a lot since then. I went to out west for Cup testing. First we went to Las Vegas for a two day test, then straight from Vegas to California for another two day test. When we got home from California it was just in time to watch the Super Bowl. A few days later we were heading to the Florida sunshine for Speedweeks.

Amazingly enough, for the first time in many of visits to Las Vegas (which I like to call Loss Wages) I didn’t help pay the lighting bill. I actually made some money gambling. That was the most exciting part of my Vegas trip because while I was at the track I had to watch Mark test our U.S. Army Chevrolet. That’s torture for me but I do learn a little even though I’m not in the car so it makes it worth while. The test went well and the ole Impala SS was pretty dang fast.

We left straight from Vegas and went to Fontana. When we got to Fontana that night I had a Chevy dinner to go to. At the dinner we listened to a presentation from the people at Chevrolet and they just told us about how the season went last year and what they are looking forward to this year. Do you know how many times an Impala SS went to victory lane last year? A LOT! The next morning was back to business. I got to test at California because I’m going to race the fall race there. The test went really well. It was my first test with all the guys on the Army team. I had a bunch of fun and we were fast too (being fast always makes it more fun). I got to work with Tony Gibson for the first time too. He’s an awesome guy and even better crew chief.

As for the Super Bowl, I was tired so I just sat on the couch and watched the game. No big parties or anything. The game was one of the best Super Bowl’s I have ever seen. I was so torn watching it because I really wanted to see history be made, but at the same time I went to college with a buddy of mine (Justin Riley) and he is the biggest Giants fan ever. So for his sake I was happy to see them win. When the Bucs won the Super Bowl I was in college and he cheered for them as much as I did so I guess fair is fair.

Speedweeks was long and boring for me. I watched a lot of racing, did the media day deal that we have to do every year, watched some more racing, and did several appearances. It’s not that I don’t enjoy any of that but I want to be in a race car so bad I can’t stand it. Following the Bud Shootout, I went to test at Lakeland on that Monday and Tuesday. That was fun and it was a good test. While in the “neighborhood” I went and seen the family. That was nice. Other than that Speedweeks was kind of a bummer.

Well I hope the next couple of weeks go well. I’m off for California so I’ll write back soon. I can’t wait until Bristol, my first race. I’m really excited to work with all the guys on this U.S. Army team and even more excited to drive the U.S. Army Chevrolet. Hope to see you at the track.

01.15.08 - Welcome! : Hello everyone and welcome to my updated website. Thanks for visiting aricalmirola.com and be sure to check in regularly as the 2008 schedule progresses for race updates and photos.

I’m looking forward to kicking off the 2008 season in the No. 8 U.S. Army Chevrolet for DEI (Dale Earnhardt Inc.). I’ve stayed pretty busy this off season with the holidays, testing and various media events.

As for the holidays, I hosted my entire family for Thanksgiving at my house in Mooresville (N.C.) following the Miami (Fla.) race. I decided that for Christmas I would drive the seven hour trip down to Tampa (Fla.) to stay with my family. It’s always nice to go home, visit with everyone and get some good home-cooked meals. It wasn’t long enough to relax before I was back in Mooresville and updating my schedule to get ready for testing in Daytona (Fla.).

Now a part of DEI (Dale Earnhardt Inc.) I’ve had the opportunity to work with Martin Truex Jr., Paul Menard, Regan Smith and of course Mark Martin, whom I will share driving duties with in the No. 8 Chevrolet. We were slated to test at Daytona (Fla.) in the first round of sessions; unfortunately I wasn’t able to test in the No. 8. Mark would drive the No. 8 the three days of testing and I was able to drive for some of the test in the No. 1 in place of Martin Truex Jr. All-in-all I thought the test went well and it was valuable experience to work with all the DEI guys and our crew chiefs, Tony Gibson and “Bono.”

Returning from Daytona (Fla.) I had the opportunity to visit Nashville (Tenn.) to attend the Sound & Speed charity event. Friday night there was dinner, a concert and an auction to raise money for Victory Junction Gang Camp and the Country Music Hall of Fame. Trace Adkins and Craig Morgan performed at the function. I walked away from the auction with a guitar signed by Brooks and Dunn. Following the event, some of my fellow competitors and I hit the streets of downtown Nashville and we had a blast. If anyone has a chance to visit Nashville, it’s a great town to see and I would highly recommend it.

We are home in Mooresville (N.C.) for a couple weeks and it gives me an opportunity to continue my workout routine and visit the guys at the DEI (Dale Earnhardt Inc.) shop. Testing in Las Vegas (Nev.) followed by testing in California will be at the end of the month before we all head back down to Daytona (Fla.) for Speedweeks.

Please check into aricalmirola.com to read an updated blog from time to time. Once the season begins I’m really looking forward to seeing everyone and hope you all support the U.S. Army Team.