By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
Aric Almirola was the leading dog for Stewart-Haas Racing Sunday at ISM Raceway.
And considering the four-car team has nine-time track winner Kevin Harvick on their roster, perhaps it was accomplishment enough for Almirola to be on top after 312 laps.
Starting 14th, the No. 10 SHR Ford improved from the first stage and eventually hit the race lead after a turn on strategy in the final stage.
And when the race went green in the final 74 laps, Almirola was high enough in the running order (and was just quick enough) to maintain a top-five finish, fourth place.
“We had a good car, but we’re just not quite as good as we need to be,” Almirola said. “We still have work to do, but I’m really proud of everybody. We keep chipping away.”
The result was his second straight top five at ISM, and more importantly, his third straight top-10 finish in 2019.
“We’re getting there,” he said. “Our cars are getting a little better, but we just have to keep keep finding more speed. We have a great race team and we’ll continue to improve on what we’ve got.”
His 26 laps out front were his first laps led in his 17 ISM starts. And arguably, his easiest during a day that saw passing plenty difficult.
“It’s always really tough to pass at Phoenix,” he said. “Then when you put more downforce in the cars, we’re going across the middle of the corner faster and cars are punching a bigger hole in the air. It just inherently makes the cars a lot harder to drive when you’re behind and in traffic. That’s nothing new.
“I think we all kind of knew that going in and expected it and it’s really just a product of what we have going on right now.”