TALLADEGA, Ala. – Despite taking the checkered flag sideways and into the frontstretch wall, Richard Petty Motorsports (RPM) driver Aric Almirola earned his third top-five of 2017 in Sunday’s Alabama 500 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.
All three of Almirola’s top-five finishes this season have come at restrictor-plate tracks starting with a fourth-place finish in the season-opening Daytona 500, another fourth at Talladega in May and a fifth on Sunday giving the Tampa, Fla. native his 30th career top-10 finish in 239 starts.
Almirola didn’t compete in the summer plate race at Daytona International Speedway after suffering a back injury in the spring race at Kansas Speedway. Darrell Wallace Jr, wheeled the No. 43 Ford Fusion to a 15th place finish in July.
“That was exciting,” said Almirola. “The whole race was exciting. Right there at the end I was really committed to making sure that we got a Blue Oval to Victory Lane.
“I was kind of watching the 2 (Keselowski) and the 22 (Logano) and we were all kind of trying to work together and my car had some damage on it from earlier in the race and I knew my car wasn’t probably good enough to lead, but if I could have done something right there at the end, we might have been able to pull one off.
“Some things just didn’t work out going down the back straightaway.”
Despite having a fast No. 43 Smithfield Ford, Almirola threaded the needle through several on-track accidents during the 188-lap race. Earlier in the race, Almirola received damage after being collected in a six-car crash in Turn 1 on Lap 156 – but even after repairs, he had a competitive car.
“I really just picked my way through wrecks, just kind of sensing that the energy of the pack was really high and knowing that all hell was gonna break loose at some point and just being prepared for that,” Almirola added.
“We were fortunate to be able to miss some wrecks. Unfortunately, we got in a wreck right there coming to the checkered, but, all in all, it was a solid finish for us and I’m proud to run up front. That’s cool.
“I think we finished top-five in all three speedway races I ran. We had a fifth and two fourths, so I’m proud of that.”
The finish was Almirola’s best result since returning to the scene in July at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Previously, it had been a 12th at Michigan International Speedway in August.
The 33-year-old driver Almirola is in his final year of driving for RPM after the team announced in September, he would not return. The team’s sponsor, Smithfield also won’t return after announcing last month they’ll head to Stewart-Haas Racing in 2018.
Sunday’s finish was a good distraction from the recent business element of the sport.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
