Joe Gibbs Racing will “re-evaluate” its part-time Nextel Cup program for #80-Aric Almirola before allowing the 23-year-old to attempt to qualify for a second race, JGR vice president and development head Steve De Souza said. Almirola’s #80 Chevrolet was removed on Monday from the entry list for Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600, De Souza said, because the team was not able to adequately prepare a replacement for the car he wrecked attempting to qualify for the Nextel Open at Lowe’s Motor Speedway last weekend. “We’re not sure what happened, ” De Souza said. “He’s had a loose car all day and they thought they’d made some adjustments, but it didn’t fix it. You could see from what happened it was nothing that would be a driver’s fault.” De Souza said the team will do “due diligence” on Almirola’s program, which currently includes part-time Busch and truck series racing, then huddle to reassess his schedule. He had been tentatively set to qualify for up to five Cup events.(St Petersburg Times)(5-23-2007)
