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2016 Team Reviews: Richard Petty Motorsports
Did you know we’re closer to the start of the 2017 Daytona 500 than we are to when the Chase began at Chicago in September? Crazy.
But before we start getting ready for 2017, let’s take a look back at 2016. Our team reviews start with Richard Petty Motorsports and we’ll work our way up the standings.
RICHARD PETTY MOTORSPORTS
Drivers: Aric Almirola and Brian Scott
Almirola
Points position: 26th (nine spots lower than 2015)
Top 5s: 0
Top 10s: 1
Scott
Points position: 31st
Top 5s: 1
Top 10s: 1
It’s hard to describe 2016’s performance as anything other than a disaster for RPM. Almirola went from being on the cusp of the Chase to having his worst year in five full-time seasons in the Cup Series.
The team made the decision before the 2016 season to build its own chassis program and entered the season saying it was positioned for its “best start to date.” That did not come true at all. While RPM touted an expanded staff and more resources, that didn’t translate to success on the track. It replaced competition director Sammy Johns in August.
Almirola had five top-five finishes and 13 top 10s in the past two seasons with RPM and got his only top 10 of 2016 at Talladega in the fall, meaning he went the first 31 races of the year without grabbing a top 10. He finished in the top half of the field just 15 times in 36 races.
The team brought in Scott for the 2016 season after Sam Hornish ran the No. 9 car in 2015 without full-season funding. Scott’s family grocery store and resort brought the team a year’s worth of sponsorship money, money that ostensibly gave RPM the ability to add staff and spend more in search of speed.
While Almirola finished 8th at Talladega in the fall Scott finished second behind Joey Logano. Had Scott figured out a way to get around Logano for the win it would have been the biggest upset win in NASCAR since David Ragan’s win at Talladega for Front Row Motorsports in 2013.
Scott completed more laps (9,865) than Almirola (9,747) but his teammate outperformed him in nearly all other categories. Almirola finished on the lead lap 15 times. Scott had seven such finishes and each driver crashed out of five races.
Almirola is back with the team for 2017 as RPM searches for a second driver, one who will likely bring sponsorship with him. Meanwhile, Scott heads to a position within his family’s business empire. We wish him the best and wonder if his mom will unblock all those who criticized him on Twitter now that he’s retired from driving.
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
