DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.: In likely what was his final Daytona 500, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Aric Almirola captured a top-five finish at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway Sunday and launched his final year as a full-time driver in the NASCAR Cup Series with momentum on his side.
Almirola started deep in the field on Sunday but utilized patience and a well-orchestrated plan by the other Ford Performance teams to capitative the audience with their Ford Mustangs in the closing laps of the “Great American Race” which put Almirola’s No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang in contention for his third career NASCAR Cup Series victory.
In NASCAR overtime, Almirola stay glued to the bottom of the race track behind the Fords of Austin Cindric and Ryan Blaney but separated by the Toyota Camry of Darrell Wallace Jr. – looking for the door to open and the chance to pounce.
Sitting sixth on the last lap, Almirola stayed tucked on the rear bumper on Wallace’s car – but with cars around him looking to take more than give, Almirola stayed stuck in a box behind Wallace and settled for his second top-five in the Daytona 500.
After the race, Almirola thought he had a shot to win.
“I honestly thought I was in a really good position,” said Almirola. “I knew it was gonna get kind of dicey and haywire there with the leaders and I thought that they would kind of shove each other around and come disconnected and I would have a bunch of momentum coming from behind. We’d seen that in the Duels and other races, so I hate to come up short.
“I had a really good feeling going into today. I just felt like it was kind of gonna be one of those storybook type deals where the last Daytona 500 I thought we had a shot at going to Victory Lane and just came up a little bit short. Dang, that’s fun. That’s fun.”
Even though the storybook ending didn’t end as he had hoped, Almirola was proud to have such a strong start to the season not only for himself, but for Stewart-Haas Racing and Ford Performance too.
“We were coming there to the end and I thought for sure like, ‘Man, this is setting up nicely to have that kind of storybook ending.’ Yeah, I believed it,” added Almirola. “I really did. I believed it in my heart that it was gonna happen and I still felt like I was in a really good position off of turn two on the white flag.
“I’m like, ‘Man, if they let us race back and there’s no crash, we’ve got a shot to win this thing.’ We came out fifth, but it was still fun. I’m proud of our team. Thanks to Smithfield and everybody involved – Mobil 1, Ford. It’s cool to get Ford in Victory Lane. We swept the week, so I’m proud of everybody and now we go to California and start the season.
“It’s emotional, honestly. Man, it’s a great feeling to be in the thick of it coming down to the end at the Daytona 500. You dream about those things as a kid and I remember sitting up in those grandstands, so it’s special. I hate losing though.”
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
