Aside from vegetarians and vegans, it’s fair to assume everybody would want to have a free, never-ending supply of bacon. In 2018, longtime Aric Almirola sponsor Smithfield decided to make that a figurative possibility with its Bacon for Life contest. Select packages of Smithfield bacon included a code during the contest period, and bacon buyers could plug in the code on Smithfield’s website to be entered to win a seemingly endless supply of bacon. Specifically, one package of bacon per week for 50 years (of course, that would spoil quick, so the actual prize was doled out as coupons and gift cards valued at nearly $21,000). The winner of this prize remains a mystery, too.

To promote the contest, Almirola ran a special Bacon for Life scheme at the 2018 1000Bulbs.com 500 at Talladega on Oct. 14. Turns out, the contest also included a big payoff for Almirola as he came out on top in a wild overtime period to claim the race win — his prize money probably could have paid for a hell of a lot of pork belly. Those who didn’t win the Bacon for Life contest can still memorialize Almirola’s race win with a 1/24 Raced Win diecast.

Stewart-Haas machines were the class of the field throughout the race. SHR cars claimed the top four spots in each of the first two stages. With five laps remaining, all four SHR cars continued to pace the field, opening a two-second gap ahead of the pack. However, a crash with three laps to go bunched the field and set up a GWC finish.

The overtime period exacerbated the low fuel status of much of the field. Several cars, including Kevin Harvick, dipped out of line to refuel, breaking up SHR’s top-four status. Busch dropped to the low line ahead of Bowyer on the restart, allowing Almirola to lead the outside line. As the field entered the front stretch on the penultimate lap, Bush blocked Almirola on the high groove. Entering turn one on the final lap, Matt DiBenedetto spun and hit the outside wall, but the race remained green. The top contenders were somewhat spread out entering turn three when Almirola went to the outside with help from Ricky Stenhouse Jr. However, Busch ran out of gas in turn four, and Almirola shot by. With Stenhouse, Bowyer and others jockeying for position behind, Almirola ran uncontested to the finish line to secure the win and end the last-lap melee.

Almirola was visibly thrilled following the win, no doubt a result of several opportunities for race wins that ended in frustration earlier in his debut year with SHR. He had been leading on the final lap of that year’s Daytona 500 when he was crashed and had to settle for 11^th. He also had several race-winning opportunities at Chicagoland, New Hampshire and Dover slip away. In those regards, his ‘Dega win was a relief. More significantly, it propelled Almirola into the Round of 8 for the first and only time in his career.

Almirola’s 1000Bulbs.com win was produced exclusively as a Raced Win 1/24 diecast. The ARC version had a production run of 625 units, and 225 units were produced as Elites, according to Diecast Registry. Twenty-four Color Chrome models were also manufactured.

But who is the other winner in this story of a One-Hit Wonder, the person who ended up winning “Bacon for Life?” Erm, good question.

A video, posted on Almirola’s Facebook page in early 2019, shows the driver supposedly surprising the winner — all we glean from the video is his name is Joe — at a home. Almirola reveals a truckload full of bacon, ostensibly Joe’s grand prize, stating it’s “26,400 feet of smoky goodness.” Of course, this was just for marketing as the rules stated the winner’s actual payout wouldn’t be in pork, but in gift cards and the like.

I wanted to learn more about this winner, but I couldn’t find any other information, no press release, etc., other than the above video. Because Joe’s surname isn’t revealed, I couldn’t narrow my search. I scoured Smithfield’s press website and couldn’t find an announcement about Joe or any of the other prize winners — a bacon bicycle was also offered, for instance — so I reached out to the company directly trying to find out more information about Mr. Bacon for Life. After a back-and-forth in which the Smithfield representative wanted to know more about what exactly I was writing about, even after explaining my status as a professional journalist, I was not further contacted. It’s been months, and there’s still no word.  

At least for now, Mr. Joe Bacon remains a mystery.