Almirola Takes Smithfield Colors to Sponsor's Home Track

Aric Almirola and the No. 43 Smithfield Ford team head to Richmond (Va.) International Raceway this week ready to get back to the short track.  The team has three top-15 finishes at tracks of one-mile or shorter in 2012 and is eager to put on a strong performance once again at the ¾-mile oval.   Saturday night's Federated Auto Parts 400 will mark the return of the blue and black paint scheme of Smithfield Foods, whose Smithfield, Va., headquarters are just a 90-minute drive from Richmond.  Almirola and the team will welcome guests from their primary sponsor for the always action-packed night race, which will be the final race for Sprint Cup Series drivers to qualify for the "Chase," the series' playoffs.   Almirola has just one Sprint Cup start under his belt at Richmond - a 26th-place finish earlier this season.  But he's turned plenty of laps on the D-shaped oval, with five Nationwide Series starts to his credit.  In those five races, he earned one top-10 and...