Birth Date: March 14, 1984 Hometown: Tampa, FL
Team:
Aric Almirola made the Playoffs in 2019, but he never made it to Victory
Lane. His best nish came when he ran second at Texas in November. For
his efforts, he nished 14th in points standings.
“We’re disappointed in not being able to get to Victory Lane or advance
further in the Playoffs,” Almirola told Motor Racing Network. “But overall
we’re still proud of the effort of everyone on this No. 10 team at Stewart-
Haas Racing over the past season.”
In years past, Aric Almirola didn’t waste any time in convincing car owners
Tony Stewart and Gene Haas made a smart decision to have him replace
Danica Patrick in their No. 10 Ford.
If fact, he came less than two miles away from the nish line in February
2018 at the season-opening Daytona 500.
Despite being turned into the outside wall while leading on the nal lap and
winding up 11th, Almirola continued to play a leading role with his new team
throughout the season.
He will return to the No. 10 Ford Mustang in 2020 with the hopes that a new
crew chief will get him to Victory Lane. After never nishing any better than
16th in the point standings during his rst six fulltime seasons, Almirola took
advantage of the considerable tools, resources and experience at Stewart-
Haas to win a race and nish fth in points in 2018 the highest of any
driver who didn’t qualify for the Championship 4.
“I’ve got a lot to be happy about,” Almirola said after that season. “I’ve got a
lot to look forward to. My boss, Tony Stewart, came in the ineld care center
and he gave me a big hug and he said, ‘The good news is we have a whole
lot more of this to look forward to.’
“Our driver/crew chief pairings for next season reect this ideology, and
we believe this lineup provides the best opportunity to win every time we
unload our Ford Mustangs at the race track,” said Greg Zipadelli, SHR’s
VP of Competition.
Almirola’s career has had its fair share of close calls and heartbreaks. He
was leading once on the backstretch at the Daytona 500 when Austin Dillon
and Darrell Wallace Jr. joined in tandem for a pass against the outside wall.
Almirola moved to block and was struck by Dillon, sending Almirola into the
wall and Dillon to Victory Lane.
“My heart is broken,” Almirola said. “It was the last lap and we’re all trying
to win the Daytona 500. It’s the biggest race of the year and it’s a careerchanging
race, so we were just racing really aggressively. I put every move
I knew to try and stay in the lead and, unfortunately, I just wasn’t able to
hold on.
“He got to my back bumper and was pushing, and just hooked me.”
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But the foundation and the speed for a successful career is already
in place.
Almirola’s paternal grandparents ed communist Cuba and Fidel Castro
in 1966. The family settled in Tampa, FL, and he eventually gave up
on baseball to become a racer. At 23, he was signed to participate
in the Joe Gibbs Racing/Reggie White Driver Diversity Program and
was already making selected starts in all three of NASCAR’s premier
national Series.
He spent six seasons at Richard Petty Motorsports, winning the rainshortened
summer race at Daytona in 2014, but his career didn’t launch
until he and longtime sponsor Smitheld made the move to SHR.
Stewart and Almirola built a relationship several years earlier when
Almirola slept on Stewart’s couch in the motorcoach when he was
trying to break into the sport into what’s now knowns as the NASCAR
GANDER RV & OUTDOORS Truck Series.
“He treated me like a nephew,” Almirola said. “He took me under his wing.”
The payback was impressive. A victory during the Playoffs at Talladega
was part of a campaign that included 17 top-10 efforts in 2018. His best
came during the Playoffs. The Talladega victory was part of seven top-
10 nishes when the stakes were raised.
Heading into 2020, the team announced that Mike Bugarewicz will
replace Johnny Klausmeier as the 10 team’s crew chief.
2019 FEATURED DRIVERS
ARIC ALMIROIA
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