Aric Almirola sprang to life late Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway as night fell and pulled off a surprise victory, Stewart-Haas Racing’s first of the season.
“There is no doubt we have struggled,” Almirola said. “But guess what? We’re going playoff racing.”
With only four races remaining before the 16-driver field is established, the victory provided a much-needed boost for Ford. Rain delayed the race by about two hours, and NASCAR called it off eight laps short of the scheduled finish time due to darkness.
301 laps and 318.46 miles were planned for New Hampshire.
Almirola, who started 27th in the standings, won his third Cup race and first since 2018, and was the first driver to cross the finish line out of the SHR group, which included Kevin Harvick, Cole Custer, and Chase Briscoe. This season, Almirola only had two top tens.
“There have been so many people that have supported us through the crappiest year ever,” Almirola said. “Man, this feels so good for them.”
Christopher Bell was unable to catch him after he broke up the Team Penske party — Brad Keselowksi and Ryan Blaney had a nice back-and-forth for the lead at one time.
Bell finished second in the Xfinty Series race on Saturday. Team Penske finished third, fourth, and fifth with Keselowski, Joey Logano, and Ryan Blaney.
Almirola leaned against the car, practically speechless, as he realized he had clinched a playoff spot.
“I love this race track,” he said. “I had this race won a couple of years ago, and I lost it. We’ve been through so much, and I just stood the test.”
Ford drivers took five of the top six spots.
The race was began in wet conditions, which proved to be a mistake as polesitter Kyle Busch spun on the sloppy track and wrecked only six laps into the race. Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin, both of Joe Gibbs Racing, spun as well, bringing the race to a halt. Truex and Hamlin were back in the race. Busch’s ride in the No. 18 Toyota was done, and as NASCAR called the race to begin, he bit his tongue.
“It never should have gone green to begin with, but then it kept getting worse and worse lap over lap,” Busch said. “We’ve been talking about it for two laps that it was raining. There’s no sense in saying what I want to say, it doesn’t do you any good.”
Hamlin said, “this is just a bad look.”
NASCAR executive vice president Steve O’Donnell said on NBC Sports races have started in the mist but the track “got slick in a hurry.”
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