Video: NASCAR Pocono Aric Almirola Q&A
The top four teams have an alliance. Do you think an alliance with another team would be beneficial for [Richard Petty Motorsports]?
"I think so. I think we've kind of seen that this year. We still have an alliance with Roush, but it's a little less this year than it's been in year's past. We've gotten a little more autonomous with building our own cars and hanging our own bodies and brought on some of our own engineering staff and things like that. To be honest with you, we knew that going into it it was going to be a work in progress. We weren't just gonna be able to build from ground zero and come out of the box and be super-successful and ultra-competitive, but we did have a lot higher hopes for success than what we've seen this year… So it makes it very challenging and very difficult to start a program like we have, especially when you're competing against teams that have been doing it for years and years and years and have a lot of resources, a lot of people and a lot of experience at doing it. That being said, I feel like there could be some positives from having a stronger alliance with some of the top teams, but, currently right now, we're devoted and right in the middle of trying to scratch and claw and work our guts out to figure out our program."