Aric Almirola Just Falls Short of Top-10 Finish at Dover

Aric Almirola just fell short of his fifth top-ten finish on Sunday in the AAA 400 Drive for Autism. Still, an 11th place finish is a strong run for the No. 10 Smithfield Ford Fusion and translates into good momentum as the series returns to the Kansas Speedway.

"The guys did a good job today," said Almirola. "They worked on the Smithfield Ford Fusion all day long and it was really good there at the end. We just needed more time to pass cars on the long green flag run after the rain delay."

Almirola remains 11th in Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series points standings. As noted above, NASCAR heads to Kansas Speedway this weekend for the KC Masterpiece 400. Last season, Almirola suffered a compression fracture to the T5 Vertebra in that race and was sidelined for seven weeks. Almirola finished ninth last October when the series returned to Kansas. Now that Almirola is in rather better equipment, could Kansas be where Almirola earns redemption?

Kansas is also the last shot for Almirola to get into the Monster Energy All-Star Race by virtue of a victory. If Almirola fails to win at Kansas, he can still get into the All-Star event by winning one of the stages or winning the overall race in the All-Star open. Almirola could also get into the All-Star race by virtue of the Fan Vote, a vote the No. 10 car has gotten three out of the last five years with Danica Patrick. (Koelle,2018)

Photo Credit - Christian Koelle/CCK Photography