Aric Almirola is about to take on some standout competitors from another sports series. He and teammate Ryan Preece will put their bowling skills to the test during a crossover event with The Professional Bowlers Association.
The inaugural Go Bowling! PBA NASCAR Invitational will take place on March 10 at The Barn at Phoenix Raceway ahead of the NASCAR Cup Series race at the one-mile track. FS1 will then air the event on March 12 at 12 p.m. ET. Go Bowling! will construct a pair of custom lanes so that a packed entry list can compete in doubles competition.
The PBA and @NASCAR are teaming up to bring the world of bowling and auto racing together for a celebrity bowling competition at Phoenix Raceway.
With the help of @GoBowlingdotcom and @qubicaamf to construct a custom pair of bowling lanes.
Read more➡️ t.co/u8kRrcTOSE
The list of competitors includes PBA Tour players Kyle Troup and Jesper Svensson; PWBA Tour stars Daria Pajak and Verity Crawley; Preece and Almirola; and two other NASCAR celebrities.
“Go Bowling has to be the most fun sponsor there is,” Almirola said in a statement to Heavy. “I mean I get to drive race cars for a living sponsored by the most fun sport to do outside of the car.
“I grew up bowling like everyone else and it’s something I still do with my family quite often. When you talk about the stunts we have pulled off with Go Bowling, they might rank up on the top of my list for most fun moments of my career.”
Almirola Has Taken Part in Unique Events With Go Bowling!
GettyAric Almirola prepares for a race at Watkins Glen International.
Almirola has worked with Go Bowling! for a variety of years. He has displayed the colors on his No. 10 Ford Mustang, which has included multiple race weekends at Watkins Glen International.
There were also activations at multiple NASCAR tracks. For example, Almirola drove the No. 10 Ford Mustang at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 2019 while professional bowler Jason Belmonte rode in the passenger seat. They completed the world’s fastest strike while crossing the start-finish line.
Fast-forward to the 2022 season, and Almirola completed the world’s longest strike during another special event at Watkins Glen International. This particular trick required extensive work as he tried to figure out the exact angle he needed to hit the pins.
“Funny enough, the World’s Fastest Strike idea was born at Chris Paul’s celebrity bowling tournament in 2019,” Almirola added. “He and I were chatting about his Dude Perfect stunt and we came up with throwing a bowling ball out of a race car.
“There was so much that went into that stunt. We had to custom-make bowling balls that wouldn’t explode on impact, rent out the track facility, ensure our show cars were up to standard, and then, on top of all of that, we still had to hit a strike at 140 MPH. It was crazy. I see why those Dude Perfect guys get so excited now. I think that video was the most viral in the world for that day or something. It was a lot of fun.
“Then of course we had the World’s Longest Strike at Watkins Glen last year, which actually took more tries. I think that was harder than the fastest strike because there was so much more room for error. That was a fun one though. I don’t know what’s next, but I’m sure John and the Go Bowling team will come up with something crazy.”
Almirola Has His Strategy for the Event
GettyAric Almirola greets fans at Watkins Glen International.
Almirola is a Cup Series driver first and foremost, but he also has experience competing in bowling alleys. This run includes the 2019 Chris Paul CP3 PBA Celebrity Invitational when he faced off with professional bowlers and all-star athletes from multiple leagues.
Almirola achieved success back in 2019, but he will now take on another competition. Does this mean that he will spend extra time at the alley getting some practice reps? The answer is no. Almirola has a different strategy that worked in the past.
“I’m kind of a ‘wing it guy’ when it comes to bowling,” Almirola said. “I would say I’m a decent bowler. When we did the Chris Paul tournament in 2019 I showed up, started practicing, and I was knocking down strikes like it was nothing. When we went live I had to go first and I was so dang nervous. I was just hoping not to get a gutter ball on live television in front of all of these people.
“Lo and behold, I strike the first shot and the crowd goes wild. I think I turned around and got a high-five from Terrell Owens, Mookie Betts, JJ Watt, and Chris Paul. Needless to say, I’m going to stick with that approach again and hope it’s a strike kind of day.”
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Aric Almirola Takes on Bowling’s Best During Crossover Event