BRISTOL, Tenn. -- One is a Nextel Cup star. The other has displayed star-like potential.

Both are in their 20s, were born in Tampa, Fla., and are alumni of the NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series.

As much as Aric Almirola has in common with Denny Hamlin, he couldn't learn so much from Hamlin if they didn't drive for the same company, too. Having the reigning Nextel Cup rookie-of-the year as a mentor at Joe Gibbs Racing has helped Almirola make good decisions both inside and outside of a race car.

"I talk to Denny quite a bit," said the 22-year-old Busch Series driver of Cuban descent. "We're more than just teammates. We're friends. We talk and he's definitely got good advice. We're both young, we're both relatively close in age and we like doing the same things. ... It's definitely a good thing for me to talk to him about the right way to go about my career path."

Up to this point, Hamlin's and Almirola's career paths have taken remarkably similar turns. After more than four years of Late Model Stock racing at short tracks throughout Virginia and North Carolina, Hamlin got his big break in 2004 when JGR signed the Chesterfield driver to a five-race driver development deal with its Craftsman Truck Series program. By the end of 2005, Hamlin had made seven Cup starts and enough noise to earn a fulltime ride in his No. 11 FedEx Express Chevrolet.

As Hamlin gradually moved off the local short track scene, Almirola moved in.

The two competed against each other a couple of times as their careers overlapped.

"I would love to take the same path as he has," said Almirola, who left Tampa to move to the Charlotte area four years ago. "He's done a great job with his career so far and he's a heck of a racer. He deserves to be exactly where he's at."

Almirola's career was spearheaded by the Joe Gibbs Racing/Reggie White Drive for Diversity Program, which fielded a Late Model entry for him at Ace Speedway in Altamahaw, N.C., for all of 2004.

The next year, Almirola crisscrossed the Southeast, spending time at multiple venues, including Radford's Motor Mile Speedway where he recorded a victory on April 9, 2005. By the end of the season, he had made four truck starts -- two of them top-10 finishes -- for Morgan-Dollar Motorsports and landed a fulltime truck ride in 2006 for Spears Motorsports, part of JGR's development program.

Almirola turned more heads last year in Busch. He made nine starts and earned a pole at Milwaukee while substituting for Hamlin, who was away fulfilling Cup duties.

"He's learned a lot just listening to me on the radio. Not that I know everything by any means, but I caught on quicker than a few," Hamlin said. "I just tell Aric all the time to just be patient. That's the biggest thing I've learned is if you've got a 15th-place car, you need to finish here and not try to make it a 10th and get in a wreck. This sport is all about consistency and you're not going to be consistent if you're sitting in the garage with a wrecked race car and I think he knows that."

From Almirola's words, he has clearly heeded Hamlin's advice.

"You're not going to win every race and I know that," said Almirola, who became the first driver of Cuban heritage to win a pole in a National NASCAR series event. "I just go out and try to do the best I can with the car I've got that day and make the best out of every weekend."

In addition to a 14-race Busch schedule, Almirola will attempt to qualify for four Cup races this season, the next coming at Richmond International Raceway in May.

He made his Cup debut in the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 two weeks ago at Las Vegas, where he qualified 31st and finished 41st.

"I've never had that much pressure on me in my whole life," Almirola said. "To make that race, it was just a huge relief. It felt like if you didn't make the race the world was just coming to an end."

Even after experiencing the bright lights of Vegas, Almirola hasn't forgotten his roots. He stays in regular contact with many of his former Late Model competitors, including 2004 Motor Mile champ, Frank Deiny Jr., and says he plans to continue to race locally on off-weekends into the foreseeable future.

"That kind of racing is just so fun," Almirola said. "Everything involved in NASCAR is so pressure-filled. You've got sponsors to answer to and car owners to answer to and what not. Saturday night short track racing is just all about going out and racing and having fun and doing what you have to do to win the race. I miss that for sure."

A fulltime Cup ride would be a can't-miss opportunity.

"He can do it," Hamlin said. "He can definitely do it. It's just going to take a little bit of time. He can be competitive. With the right car he can be as good or better than me."