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Stewart Haas Racing driver Aric Almirola has hit a new low after another run of bad luck last week when the NASCAR Cup Series hit Atlanta for the first time in 2023.
The driver of the No.10 Smithfield Ford Mustang was leading the field in Atlanta with 51 laps to go when he blew a tire, collected Kyle Larson, and crashed out of the race.
Almirola’s season started off on a high, winning his Daytona Duel and qualifying on the second row for the Great American Race, but it all went downhill from there.
The 39-year-old has had some form of accident in all five races in the 2023 season thus far, failing to finish three of them.
Two of those DNFs for Almirola came in the first two races of the season, getting caught up in ‘The Big One’ in Daytona and at Auto Club Speedway.
In Las Vegas while running 15th, he got loose and hit the wall with just four laps remaining, ultimately finishing in 16th.
He also found trouble in Phoenix, and again in Atlanta, adding to a frustrating run.
“I have no idea what happened, just blew a tyre, no idea why,” Almirola said after being released from the infield care centre at Atlanta.
“All the tires had been taken off before that last stop with zero wear.
“It’s disappointing, our Smithfield Ford Mustang was really fast, I was able to content for the win and make the moves I needed to, to get to the front.
“Zero warning… right in the middle of (turns) 3 and 4 it just snapped around.”
Almirola’s string of bad finishes comes just months after delaying his retirement for a year to race once again in the 2023 season.
(Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
Almirola had initially called time on his racing career to spend more time with his family but said the decision to come back to the No.10 machine was “twofold”.
“For one, I was asked by the team and by Smithfield,” Almirola said.
“And our family dynamic had changed from previous to where I felt like I was making the kids and making Janice sacrifice a lot for me to keep chasing my dreams.
“We changed schools, and our kids’ school became a hybrid school on Fridays, so they go to school during the week and Friday is a home school day.
“That allowed them to travel with me and go to the races.
“I think Janice and the kids came to 28 races with me last year, and we just really enjoyed that.
“We got to spend a lot of family time together and we got to travel across the country, going from track to track and doing a lot of sightseeing.”
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