Aric Almirola joined Dale Earnhardt Inc. in July 2007. The 23-year-old driver will co-pilot the No. 01 U.S. Army Chevrolet with Mark Martin for the remainder of the 2007 season.

Almirola, a Tampa, Fla. native of Cuban descent, came to DEI from Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR), where he was one of JGR's first prospects via the diversity program founded by Gibbs and the late Reggie White, an initiative that traces its roots back to May 2003.

Almirola was introduced to racing by his maternal grandfather - Sam Rodriguez, a Florida native. Almirola's father, Ralph, came to the United States from Cuba at age four during the Freedom Flights on the mid-1960s. Almirola's mother is Lynette.

When he signed with DEI, the young Almirola had already garnered three Busch Series poles and a victory, as he co-drove with Denny Hamlin to win the June 23rd Busch race at The Milwaukee Mile.

"I am so excited about this opportunity," said Almirola. "To share a ride with Mark Martin and have him as a driving coach is awesome. I want to thank everyone at DEI for believing in me and also to all of the people who have supported me along the way. It's going to be such an honor to represent the U.S. Army and all of our soldiers. Wearing the Army uniform will mean so much to me."

Almirola began his JGR career driving a late model in the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series in 2004 at the .4-mile Ace Speedway in Altamahaw, N.C. After scoring two wins, six top-fives and 15 top-10s, Almirola went on to compete in regional late model races in the Southeast.

By the end of 2005, Almirola was running a limited schedule in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, which led to a full-time Truck Series ride and a nine-race Busch Series schedule in 2006.

Entering the 2007 season, Almirola was scheduled to run 18 Busch races for JGR.

Almirola began racing go-karts when he was 8-years-old. After winning many races and local titles in and around his home state of Florida, he took his talent to the national karting scene in 1998.

He quickly made his presence know, qualifying on the pole for the World Karting Association Grand Nationals at Daytona Beach (Fla) Municipal Stadium before finishing fourth in the season-ending point standings.

At 16, Almirola graduated to open-wheel modifieds - 2,750-pound race cars that put out over 700 horsepower.

In 2000 he won the Rookie of the Year title in two separate modified divisions - Florida Modified and SARA (Southern Automobile Racing Association) Modified, while garnering his first career win in the Joslin Memorial 100 at Orlando (Fla.) Speedworld, beating the top drivers in Florida.

In March 2002, Almirola advanced from open-wheel modifieds to the Sunbelt Super Late Model Division, where he finished runner-up in the Rookie of the Year standings. Almirola continued in that division in 2003, winning three poles at USA Speedway in Lakeland, Fla., two poles at New Smyrna (Fla.) Speedway and one pole at Bronson (Fla.) Speedway.