Earlier this year, Tony Stewart suffered a big blow as his star NASCAR driver, Kevin Harvick, announced 2023 would be his last season in the sport. Fast forward a few months from that announcement, Stewart found an apt replacement for the retiring legend in Josh Berry. But now it seems Smoke will have to find another replacement for another driver in his team before the 2024 season gets underway.
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Because of the way things are progressing with Aric Almirola, it’s getting more and more unlikely that the #10 driver will continue in NASCAR beyond this season. Now, it’s worth mentioning that with Almirola, the subject of retirement is a tricky one considering he reversed his decision to retire last year only.
But could this time around Almirola retire for good?
Aric Almirola gives an update on his NASCAR future
Speaking in a recent interview with SiriusXM NASCAR, Almirola claimed about his future that he simply has no idea where it’s headed at the moment. He described, “It’s a moving target. I would say, not just a moving target, but it’s just not a clear target. There’s so many variables that go into answering that question and I don’t have a clear direction at this moment. And even if I did, it could change.”
“The race team is really the deciding factor. They need to know within the next probably 30 days, 60 days on what’s going on so they can make plans. They have the plans for future way more in advance than I do. I’m very capable of pivoting, and changing, and switching. But the race team, there’s a lot of moving parts to the race team. The race team certainly needs to have an idea of what’s going on and the sooner the better,” he continued.
“I guess there’s active discussions, there’s a lot of moving parts, there’s a lot of variables and it’s complicated. It’s not very easy.”
What will @Aric_Almirola be doing next year?
🗣️ “I can honestly say that I have no idea.” 🤷🏻♂️
He also says he probably needs to let @StewartHaasRcng know in the next month or two what his decision will be for the 2024 season. pic.twitter.com/MWJURcA58l
— SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Ch. 90) (@SiriusXMNASCAR) July 28, 2023
Almirola is like a brother to Tony Stewart
In a video posted by Stewart Haas Racing earlier this year, SHR co-owner Tony Stewart spoke candidly about Aric Almirola, what he means to him, and what he’s capable of doing on a good day. “Aric’s like a little brother to me. We talked him into staying,” Stewart said.
“I think when things are going well, he really has fun driving the racecar. Hopefully, we can get the car balanced to where he’s comfortable and I know when it is. Because when he is comfortable in the car and when it’s doing what he’s wanting it to do, the results show.”
“He gets up front, he leads laps, he’s in the hunt. He can definitely get the job done.”
However, the thing is, this year, Almirola has been pretty far away from getting things done. With 0 finishes inside the Top 5 and just 1 finish inside the Top 10, it has been a very disappointing season so far for the #10 driver.
But the question is, is this his last year in NASCAR?
