By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
Usually, when you’re sideways at Talladega Superspeedway, that means trouble. For Aric Almirola on Monday, however, he still left with his best result of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season.
Storming to the checkered flag to end’s Monday’s GEICO 500 from Talladega, Almirola was in prime position to grab a top-five finish, or perhaps his second ‘Dega victory when contact ahead sparked.
Ryan Blaney banged doors with Erik Jones, turning the latter into the wall. Almirola maneuvered low with a head of steam before being turned by Ricky Stenhouse Jr. less than 100 yards from the start/finish line.
With Blaney edging Stenhouse by 0.007 seconds, Almirola slide across the line to finish third, besting his top finish of the season.
“I thought we had a shot to get our Smithfield Ford Mustang in Victory Lane,” Almirola said. “We had a really good car and our strategy was to stay out of trouble all day and be there at the end, and we were there at the end.”
Technically failing to avoid trouble, the result was still a strong positive for the No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford team, who had zero top fives just eight days ago. Now, following a fifth place at Homestead last weekend, third at ‘Dega gives a boost of momentum to the veteran driver.
“It was close, but we just couldn’t get it done,” he said. “I’m proud of all my guys on this team. We had a great week last week at Miami with a top five and leaving here at Talladega with another top five.”
With the result continuing a trend in 2020, it also continued a trend at the Alabama track. Monday’s finish was Almirola’s eighth consecutive top-10 finish at Talladega, a hard task at any track nevertheless a wreck-filled superspeedway.
“We’ll keep building on that,” he said. “It looks like the ball is going in the right direction for us.”
Finishing third backwards… That’s @TalladegaSuperS. So close!! Bring it on @PoconoRaceway. #SmithfieldRacing pic.twitter.com/wE4w993mCR
— Aric Almirola (@Aric_Almirola) June 23, 2020