RICHMOND, Va.: A smart race by Aric Almirola rewarded his Stewart-Haas Racing team with a sixth-place finish in Sunday’s Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond (Va.) Raceway.
The finish was Almirola’s first of the 2021 season and hopefully turns the tide on what has been a frustrating fourth season at Stewart Haas Racing.
Almirola had his work cut out for him in his No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang but using power moves on the race track and taking advantage of a well-balanced car allowed Almirola to steadily move through the field.
Picking up 10 position by the end of Stage 1 in 12th, Almirola showed what his car was capable of during a short 80-lap sprint – but during a long Stage 2, the two-time NASCAR Cup Series winner was able to hold a steady place and collect a much-needed stage point in 10th at the end of Stage 2.
Throughout Stage 3, Almirola marched forward and took advantage of a late race restart to pick up a few positions and take sixth to help improve his 25.8 average finish entering the ninth Cup Series race of the season.
“Man, I really battled for fifth there at the end, but burnt up my tires on the outside in the process,” said Aric Almirola after the race. “Finally, a solid day for our Smithfield team. Everyone did their part, and we were mistake free today. Let’s fire it up and keep it rolling.”
Hoping to make the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs for the fourth straight season, Almirola moved from 28th to 27th in the championship standings with 17 races remaining in the regular season.
Before Sunday’s finish, Almirola had managed just a season-high 11th place finish at Phoenix (Ariz.) Raceway in March – but the Tampa, Fla. native called his shot before the start of the race feeling upbeat about the race considering the speed of his race car at Phoenix and even Martinsville (Va.) Speedway last weekend where he finished 20th after starting 31st.
Looking ahead, Almirola returns to Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway next weekend where Almirola can easily contend for the win.
In the season-opener at Daytona, Almirola was thought to have one of the strongest cars in the field – but was eliminated following a massive accident just 16 laps into the Daytona 500.
The 37-year-old scored his lone Cup victory with Stewart Haas Racing at Talladega in 2018.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
