77 Facts About Aric Almirola

Aric Michael Almirola was born on March 14,1984 and is an American professional stock car racing driver.

Aric Almirola competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No 10 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing, and part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No 08 Ford Mustang for SS-Green Light Racing.

Aric Almirola was born on Eglin Air Force Base in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, of Cuban descent.

Aric Almirola began racing go-karts when he was eight years old.

Aric Almirola won the pole position in his debut in the World Karting Association race and finished fourth in the standings that year.

In 2002, Aric Almirola moved to the NASCAR Sun Belt Weekly Racing Division and finished second in the Rookie of the Year standings.

Aric Almirola followed that up with five pole positions in 2003.

Aric Almirola signed with Joe Gibbs Racing as a development driver under a partnership with former NFL player Reggie White.

Aric Almirola ran the season at Ace Speedway, and won two races before finishing 11th in the points standings.

Aric Almirola won five more races at the track in 2005, and made his Truck Series debut with Morgan-Dollar Motorsports and had two top-tens in four races.

For 2006, Aric Almirola drove the No 75 Spears Manufacturing-sponsored Chevy for Spears Motorsports in the Craftsman Truck Series, as part of the JGR development program.

Aric Almirola started every race and had three Top 10 finishes, including a best finish of ninth, ending the season 18th.

Aric Almirola served as a test driver for Gibbs teammates JJ Yeley and Denny Hamlin when their Nextel Cup and Busch Series schedules conflicted.

Aric Almirola scored his first career pole at the Milwaukee Mile, qualifying the No 20 car for Denny Hamlin, who competed in the race.

Aric Almirola moved up to the Busch series regularly in 2007, driving the No 18 and No 20 Chevys for Joe Gibbs, driving each car in ten races apiece.

Aric Almirola won his second career pole award for the Orbitz 300 at Daytona.

Hamlin went on to win the race, but Aric Almirola was credited with his first NASCAR Busch Series win because he was the driver who started the race.

Aric Almirola did not participate in team victory celebrations after the race as he had already left the track.

Aric Almirola soon asked for his release and later joined Dale Earnhardt, Inc following the sale of Ginn Racing.

Aric Almirola drove the No 01 Chevrolet in five races in 2007 and had the best finish of 30th.

Aric Almirola was named co-driver of the No 8 United States Army-sponsored Chevrolet for the 2008 Sprint Cup Series, sharing the ride with Mark Martin.

Aric Almirola's best finish during the season was an eighth-place finish in the 2008 Food City 500 at Bristol, and his best start in Sprint Cup was a third-place start at the 2008 Goody's Cool Orange 500 at Martinsville.

Aric Almirola was named the full-time driver of the No 8 for the 2009 season.

Seven races into the 2009 season, Aric Almirola lost his ride due to lack of sponsorship.

Aric Almirola later signed a five-race deal with Key Motorsports to drive their No 40 Chevrolet Impala SS in the Nationwide Series.

Aric Almirola returned to the Truck Series, driving part-time in the No 15 Graceway Pharmaceuticals-sponsored Toyota Tundra for Billy Ballew Motorsports, and had a seven-race streak of finishes eighth or better.

Aric Almirola made one attempt and one race in the No 09 Phoenix Racing Chevrolet in the Sprint Cup Series.

In October 2009, he filed paperwork in North Carolina Superior Court indicating that he has a breach-of-contract dispute with Earnhardt Ganassi Racing and Dale Earnhardt Inc Aric Almirola competed in seven Sprint Cup races in 2009 for the team before his No 8 Chevy car was parked because of a lack of sponsorship.

Aric Almirola won his first race in the Camping World Truck Series at Dover International Speedway and won again at Michigan International Speedway, holding off Todd Bodine and Kyle Busch.

In July 2010, Aric Almirola was again a standby driver for Hendrick Motorsports at Pocono in case Jeff Gordon had to leave or miss the race due to the birth of Gordon's son.

Aric Almirola drove the No 9 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford at Martinsville Speedway in Fall 2010 after Kasey Kahne was released from his contract.

Aric Almirola had his first Sprint Cup Top 5 finish at Homestead.

In 2011, Aric Almirola drove the No 88 Nationwide Series car for JR Motorsports.

Aric Almirola won two poles and had 18 top-10s to finish fourth in points.

Aric Almirola was released from his contract after the season when he accepted a full-time Sprint Cup ride, driving for Richard Petty Motorsports in the No 43 Ford.

Aric Almirola spun on lap 172 racing for the lead and lost a lap on pit road.

Aric Almirola returned to the Truck Series in 2012 on a part-time basis driving for his old crew chief Richie Wauters' No 5 Ford.

In 2013, Aric Almirola returned to Richard Petty Motorsports' No 43 in the Sprint Cup Series; at Martinsville Speedway in October, the team ran the No 41 to honor Maurice Petty's induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

In January 2014, RPM announced a three-year contract extension with Aric Almirola after working on one-year deals the previous two seasons.

Aric Almirola had a rather slow start to 2014, being involved in a 12-car wreck in the 2014 Daytona 500.

At Bristol, Aric Almirola posted his best cup finish to date, finishing 3rd.

The next week at Auto Club Speedway during the 2014 Auto Club 400, Aric Almirola got involved in an accident with Brian Scott.

At the 2014 Coke Zero 400, Aric Almirola would earn his first career win in the Sprint Cup Series after avoiding two major wrecks, and leading the field when the race was called off after 112 laps due to rain.

Aric Almirola's win marked the first victory by the Richard Petty Motorsports No 43 since 1999, and 30 years to the day Richard Petty won his 200th race.

Aric Almirola was eliminated from the championship chase after round 1 of the Chase.

Aric Almirola had a more successful year in 2015 despite missing the Chase barely.

Aric Almirola had only six Top 10s but he was mainly in the Top 15 and was consistent all year long.

Aric Almirola finished 17th in the standings, the highest for a non-chaser.

Aric Almirola returned to the No 43 in 2016 with Brian Scott as his new teammate.

Aric Almirola barely beat Justin Allgaier by 0.003 seconds to win the race.

Aric Almirola had a dismal 2016 season with just only collecting a top ten finish.

Aric Almirola started the 2017 season without a teammate and finished 4th at the 2017 Daytona 500.

Aric Almirola was hit with a 35-point penalty loss after the Talladega race.

Aric Almirola attempted to avoid the wreck but instead slammed into Logano.

Aric Almirola was diagnosed with a compression fracture of his T5 vertebrae, released from the University of Kansas Hospital after overnight observation and traveled back to North Carolina, where he had a follow-up consultation with his doctors in Charlotte.

Aric Almirola was reported to have the ability to walk the day after his violent wreck.

On June 29,2017, Aric Almirola stated he would undergo track tests in Charlotte or Darlington before being medically cleared to race in low-banking tracks like Indianapolis or New Hampshire to decrease stress on his back.

In September 2017, after sponsor Smithfield Foods announced that they would be leaving the team at season's end, Aric Almirola announced his departure from Richard Petty Motorsports.

At the inaugural Charlotte Roval race, Aric Almirola was barely able to advance to the Round of 12 with a 19th-place finish after slamming the outside wall while avoiding William Byron, who cut a tire in front of him.

Aric Almirola had a strong running at the fall Dover race until he got loose exiting the turn and collided with Brad Keselowski, which caused a multi-car pileup that took out Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr.

Aric Almirola scored his second career cup win, locking him into the Round of 8.

Aric Almirola finished the season fifth in the points standings, the highest finish of his career.

Aric Almirola fell to 14th in the final points standings.

Aric Almirola finished third at the 2020 GEICO 500 despite crossing the finish line nearly all the way backwards after being spun by Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Aric Almirola led the most laps and won the second stage at Pocono the following week, and looked to be in a position to win until a poor final pit stop cost him the lead.

Aric Almirola led 128 of the first 137 laps at Kentucky but his car did not do as well in lap traffic and he was unable to regain the lead; Aric Almirola's teammate Cole Custer won the race.

Aric Almirola's consistency got him in the Playoffs for the third year in a row.

Aric Almirola made it to the Round of 12, but was eliminated after the Charlotte Roval.

In 2021, Aric Almirola won his duel and started third in the Daytona 500, but contact with Christopher Bell triggered the big one and knocked Aric Almirola out of the race on lap 14.

At New Hampshire Motor Speedway, with 57 laps to go, Aric Almirola passed Ryan Blaney for the lead.

Aric Almirola went on to collect his third career win over Christopher Bell after NASCAR shortened the race by 8 laps due to darkness.

Aric Almirola was eliminated from the playoffs following the conclusion of the Round of 16 at Bristol.

Aric Almirola finished the season 15th in the points standings.

On January 10,2022, Aric Almirola announced his retirement from full-time racing after the 2022 season.

Aric Almirola started the season with a fifth-place finish at the 2022 Daytona 500.

Aric Almirola was born at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, and raised in Tampa.

Aric Almirola's grandfather Sam Rodriguez was a dirt sprint car driver.