Driver: Aric Almirola
Car: No. 88 Suave Men Chevrolet
Track: Daytona International Speedway (July 1, 2011)
Bio: Everybody knows that the last lap of a restrictor-plate race in NASCAR has a high probability of being...exciting. And it’s mostly for the wrong reasons if you happen to be involved in the excitement.
That’s where Aric Almirola found himself in the final 200 yards of the Subway Jalapeno 250 for NASCAR Xfinity Series cars. Almirola, driving the No. 88 Suave Men Chevrolet for JR Motorsports, was pushing the No. 7 GoDaddy Chevy of teammate Danica Patrick on the high side as the field thundered toward the start/finish line and the checkered flag.
The two had a run going as everyone in front of them was on the low line, and Mike Wallace, trying to protect his position, drifted up to shut it off. That pushed Patrick wider than she wanted and she brushed the wall, bouncing off it and into Wallace’s machine. That sent Wallace toward the bottom line with predictable results. Almirola, still pushing for all he was worth, clipped the left rear corner of Patrick’s car and some of Wallace’s, and the two were swallowed up by other cars as they spun toward the outside of the track.
Almirola was smashed up against the wall as the cars crossed the finish line and stayed there, pinned by another machine. His Suave Chevy burst into flames just past start/finish, and he rode the car down to a stop and climbed out. Patrick was able to get away and came around the track with the doghouse pushed up into a wedge.
Despite the fact that he was involved in the crash, Almirola still logged a ninth-place finish. A quick read of the finishing order reveals a heavily JRM-oriented top 10, too – both past and present. Justin Allgaier was fifth driving for Harry Scott, Michael Annett was sixth in Rusty Wallace’s car, Elliott Sadler’s OneMain Financial car finished eighth, Almirola was ninth and Patrick 10th.
The car made its way to the Racecar Graveyard when the series spec changed a couple of seasons later.