KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Richard Petty Motorsports driver Aric Almirola suffered a compressive fracture of his T5 vertebrae following a freighting crash in Saturday night’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Go Bowling 400 at Kansas Speedway.
Almirola was flown to the University of Kansas Medical Center where he was released Sunday morning and will travel back to Mooresville, N.C. to follow up with his doctors in Charlotte.
On Lap 199 of 267 of the Go Bowling 400, Joey Logano’s No. 22 Team Penske Ford had a right-front brake rotor break entering Turn 1 and turned right into Danica Patrick’s No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Fusion.
Almirola running mid-pack was unable to avoid them and careered into both cars with the impact launching his No. 43 Smithfield Ford into the air and off the racing surface.
Almirola immediately lowered his window but safety crews continued to work to extract him from the car, removing the windshield and cutting off the top of his Ford. He was awake and alert when he was pulled from the car and placed onto a backboard and stretcher.
Almirola through his team radio was complaining of back pain following the crash.
The race was red flagged for nearly 28 minutes for cleanup in a race won by Martin Truex Jr.
“You know, Aric is a friend of mine,” said Truex during his post-race press conference. “He volunteered to be in our fashion show this week, Catwalk For a Cause, our big foundation fundraiser. Him and his wife, great people, family guy, and just such a nice family and such a nice guy. I was really scared when I seen that and worried for him, obviously.
“I hope he’s doing good. I hope it was just safety precautions that they had to take care of and get him out of there on a stretcher, but I hope he’s doing well. Definitely thinking about him.”
Almirola, 33, is in his sixth full-time season for Richard Petty Motorsports and is the most recent winner in the NASCAR XFINITY Series last weekend at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. The Tampa, Fla. native earned his lone Cup win at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway in July 2014.
Richard Petty Motorsports says further updates will be provided when available.
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