Undaunted by the springtime gap in NASCAR’s schedule, Aric Almirola took to the track and captured the entirely uncoveted Easter 500 in what he gauges to be record time. To allow his crew to be with their families during the Christian holiday, Aric generously prepped his own racecar and serviced the vehicle himself during the 500-lap race which only went under caution seven times.

Die-hard Almirola fan Jacob Snit showed up to watch his hero compete, and ended up serving as historian and news correspondent for the unprecedented event. “There were some tense moments out there. With Aric bringing out all seven cautions in the race, he could easily have gone a few laps down. Plus, I’ve never seen anyone take so many 10 minute pit stops and still win an event. It is a great testament to his driving ability that he not only stayed on the lead lap, but won the whole race.”

Almirola plans to petition NASCAR president Mike Helton for 90 points for his victory, 20 points for leading all 500 laps of the race, and a place in the 2009 Coca-Cola Shootout for capturing the pole during “Easter Vigil” qualifying on Saturday night.

To be fair, Almirola drew an excellent qualifying position. He was able to take advantage of the clean track conditions by qualifying first as well as the cool pavement temperatures available to him as he put down his qualifying lap at the end of the day.

Jacob Snit also noted one other unique circumstance that led to Almirola’s success on Easter Sunday: “In a situation in which there is only one driver out on the track, Aric was able to compete in near-total silence. That really helped his racing. I might also note that his pre-race invocation was especially moving and his stirring rendition of the National Anthem was only slightly-off key.”

Snit hopes the Easter 500 becomes a regular event on the NASCAR circuit, and he is already favoring Almirola for a similar victory during All-Star weekend while other drivers are either racing in the exhibition or spending time with their families.