Loose wheel turns Almirola’s strong New Hampshire run into heartbreak
LOUDON, N.H. — Aric Almirola showed race-winning speed Monday in the NASCAR Cup Series Crayon 301 but will only have a 33rd-place finish to show for it.
Almirola started third, finished fourth in stage one and never dropped out of the top-5 in the first 164 laps.
On lap 165, Almirola took the lead with a two-tire pit stop and was ready to shine on the restart.
“I thought the right-rear tire felt a little bit awkward leaving pit road. Then after that, working my tires in and going through the gears before the restart, everything felt normal. I didn’t really have any concerns,” Almirola said.
However, going into turn one, his right-rear wheel came loose and caused him to crash into the outside wall – ending his day.
Almirola has only four top-15 finishes, including a season-best sixth-place finish at Martinsville. At 90 points out of a playoff spot entering New Hampshire, a win would’ve turned his season around.
“I’m just really, really disappointed. This race team has been working so hard to bring fast race cars to the track. I’m so proud of everybody. We’re not capitalizing when we have cars capable of running up-front. Just frustrating, disappointing…all the words you can use to describe being upset is certainly where we are. I hate it. Everybody that puts so much into this program that we can’t get results,” Almirola stated.
After the wreck, Almirola will now go to Pocono Raceway almost 100 points out of a playoff spot with six regular-season races left.
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Jonathan Fjeld View All
Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.
A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.
Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick's final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen's stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers' stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.
Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com