Aric Almirola looks on during qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway on July 8, 2023. Photo: Alex Slitz/Getty Images
At roughly 9 o’clock on Saturday morning, readers on Twitter got the long-awaited answer to Aric Almirola’s plans for 2024 — a partial answer, at least.
Almirola announced his retirement from full-time NASCAR Cup Series racing, indicating he will not be back in the No. 10 Ford at Stewart-Haas Racing next year.
“After much prayer, consideration and conversations with my family, I’m ready for the next adventure,” Almirola posted, along with expressions of gratitude to Stewart-Haas and sponsor Smithfield Foods, which has decided to end its commitment to NASCAR racing at the end of the season.
Almirola achieved two of his three NASCAR Cup Series victories with Stewart-Haas, at Talladega in 2018 and at New Hampshire in 2021. His other Cup win came in a rain-shortened race at Daytona for Richard Petty Motorsports in 2014.
Though Almirola said later on Saturday in the Martinsville Speedway media center that he’s seeking a more equitable work/life balance, he didn’t rule out racing on a more limited basis next year and beyond.
“I still would like to scratch the itch,” said the 39-year-old driver. “I don’t know what that looks like. I still want to Late Model race. If there’s an opportunity to run an asphalt pavement, a Late Model race or a Dirt Late Model race — a truck race or an Xfinity race, something like that, or even a one-off Cup race here and there, I would enjoy that.
“But doing it 38 weeks out of the year is a grind. I’m not complaining, because I signed up for it, and I loved it, and it’s afforded our family a wonderful, wonderful life. But I’m ready to just create a little bit better work/life balance as I go forward.”
Almirola didn’t provide any specifics about his future plans, and Stewart-Haas is now tasked with finding a driver and sponsor for the No. 10 Ford.
Tyler Reddick Says Strategic Adjustments May Become Necessary On Sunday
Entering Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway 10 points below the current cutoff for the Championship 4, Tyler Reddick’s path to the title race is arguably more complex than that of any other competitor.
Stage points could play an important role in Reddick’s fortunes as he tries to overtake Ryan Blaney, who holds the last Playoff-eligible position. Then again, a variety of circumstances could force Reddick to win the event in order to advance.
Initially, Reddick expects to approach the race the way he would any other.
“It’s straightforward,” Reddick said. “It’s a normal race weekend, honestly. Our (purpose) here in practice is to get a good feel in our race car and understand what we need to do, if anything. Hopefully, we don’t have to do anything to it for qualifying and just go out there and execute the qualifying lap just like any weekend.”
If a must-win situation develops, however, Reddick needs to be prepared to make adjustments.
“Typically, the way this race plays out, there’s really only been a couple guys that have gotten really crazy with strategy to flip their track position,” Reddick said. “I don’t anticipate a lot of odd-placed cautions, but if they do happen, it’s something we’ll have to weigh in our minds.
“But if we’re at the front of the field like we plan on being, like we’re shooting for, we’re at the front of whatever strategy we want to be on. It’ll just give us more options if that arises. If it comes down to the end of the race, and you’ve got to get a couple spots, you’ve got to be aggressive.
“Your whole year’s on the line, right?”
Qualifying, however, didn’t work out the way Reddick had hoped. He spun in turn 4 on his second lap in the first round and will start 19th on Sunday—with lot of work to do to keep his championship aspirations alive.
There’s No Secrecy Between Teammates At Joe Gibbs Racing
In all likelihood, Martin Truex, Jr. must reverse his recent fortunes — or misfortunes, more precisely — and win Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race to advance to the Nov. 6 Championship 4 race at Phoenix Raceway.
Denny Hamlin, Truex’s teammate at Joe Gibbs Racing, faces the exact same challenge. Each driver trails fourth-place Ryan Blaney by 17 points and third-place William Byron by 37.
With two Championship 4 spots already claimed by Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell, thanks to their respective victories at Las Vegas and Homestead, and Byron likely to advance on points, Truex and Hamlin could be battling each other for a win at Martinsville and the final Championship 4 berth.
Under the circumstances, you might expect their teams to adopt a secretive mode as they try to gain an upper hand, but Truex says that’s not the case.
“Nothing really changes,” Truex said Saturday before winning the pole for Sunday’s race at the 0.526-mile short track. “We race just like we do every other week. We will go with what got us here. Being in the Playoffs as teammates for so many years, we have that experience, and we know what got us here and things that make us strong as a group.
“Then you go on Sunday and race. You don’t hide things, you don’t try to do anything different. At least that has been my experience in the past on how we’ve handled it, and so far, nothing that I’ve seen has been different.”
NASCAR Cup Series
Martinsville Speedway – Martinsville, VA
Xfinity 500 – October 29, 2023
Sunday’s Starting Lineup
1. (19) Martin Truex, Jr. (P) @, Toyota, 94.153 mph.
2. (54) Ty Gibbs #, Toyota, 94.115 mph.
3. (14) Chase Briscoe, Ford, 94.106 mph.
4. (11) Denny Hamlin (P) @, Toyota, 94.055 mph.
5. (5) Kyle Larson (P) @, Chevrolet, 93.854 mph.
6. (23) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 93.784 mph.
7. (20) Christopher Bell (P) @, Toyota, 93.705 mph.
8. (4) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 93.548 mph.
9. (41) Ryan Preece, Ford, 93.548 mph.
10. (6) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 93.423 mph.
11. (12) Ryan Blaney (P) @, Ford, 0.000 mph.
12. (10) Aric Almirola, Ford, 0.000 mph.
13. (1) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
14. (9) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
15. (22) Joey Logano, Ford, 0.000 mph.
16. (24) William Byron (P) @, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
17. (38) Todd Gilliland, Ford, 0.000 mph.
18. (17) Chris Buescher (P) @, Ford, 0.000 mph.
19. (45) Tyler Reddick (P) @, Toyota, 0.000 mph.
20. (47) Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
21. (2) Austin Cindric, Ford, 0.000 mph.
22. (48) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
23. (34) Michael McDowell, Ford, 0.000 mph.
24. (31) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
25. (16) A.J. Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
26. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
27. (99) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
28. (21) Harrison Burton, Ford, 0.000 mph.
29. (43) Erik Jones, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
30. (7) Corey LaJoie, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
31. (8) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
32. (42) Carson Hocevar(i), Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
33. (51) Ryan Newman(i), Ford, 0.000 mph.
34. (77) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
35. (15) J.J. Yeley(i), Ford, 0.000 mph.
36. (78) B.J. McLeod(i), Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
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