By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
DARLINGTON, S.C. — Two races ago, Aric Almirola was looking clean to make the 2019 playoffs in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. Nearly 100 points to the green above the cut line and 13 straight top-20 finishes.
Now, the world looks a little muddy for the driver of the No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford. Finishing 33rd and 29th in the last two races, Almirola has fallen to 65 points above the cut line, positions that are held by SHR teammates Daniel Suarez and Clint Bowyer.
Entering Sunday night’s Southern 500, Almirola has just two more races to “bring it home” to make what would be his second postseason appearance.
“We’ve had two rough weekends and went from having an almost 100-point cushion to now it’s like [65] points,” Almirola said. “You can never just throw caution to the wind. If we have two more weekends like we just had, that could be devastating for us, so I don’t want to be in that situation.”
Running third quickest in Darlington’s opening practice, Almirola hit another obstacle when he popped the wall in second practice, forcing him into a back-up machine.
Qualifying 30th, Almirola will have a fight on his hands for Sunday’s 500-miler.
“I want to have a good, solid weekend here at Darlington,” he said. “If we can leave here in a similar situation to what we’ve entered with, I think that should lock us in.”
Indeed, if Almirola maintains his current point position of 64 points, he will be locked into the 2019 playoffs. However, based on the tricky track conditions and significant tire fall-off seen throughout the weekend, Almirola knows it’ll be a wild night.
“That’s what makes Darlington special is that the track is so challenging and so unique,” he said. “You’ve got Turn 1 and 2 that is a very odd, unique-shaped corner — but then [Turn] 3 and 4, [that’s] a very tight, narrow corner, so you have to slow down and use the brakes and drive that corner completely different.”
With seven Darlington starts under his belts, results have been tough to come by, entering his eighth start Sunday looking for his first top-10 finish.
“Darlington has always been a challenging place to pass and I think with this rules package and stuff that’s not going to be any different,” he said. “It will still be a challenge. I think restarts will be interesting to see how we sort out getting through there.
“It used to be there was a lot of give-and-take on the restarts and as the run would go on if you cut a guy a break. There was a respect about racing at Darlington because of that, but now track position being so important it’ll be interesting to see what kind of give-and-take happens on these restarts.”
No matter the result, Almirola has already placed this weekend high on his memory list, as he honors team owner Tony Stewart by running his 2002 championship scheme for Throwback Weekend.
For Almirola, there is a deep connection between himself and the paint scheme.
“I am so pumped about it,” he said. “I grew up watching Tony race in sprint cars and midgets on Thursday Night Thunder, and then I followed his career and watched him in NASCAR. Then I got the opportunity to go to Joe Gibbs Racing and drive for them, and I actually drove a late model sponsored by Home Depot with the reverse of this paint scheme – it was black with white and orange.
“To come 15 years later and have the opportunity to drive one of my childhood heroes’ racecars and for him to be my boss and my friend it’s just really cool. It’s a cool story, but, for me, it has a special meaning just because it kind of brings my whole career together with where I aspired to get to, where I started in NASCAR, and where I’m at today.”