(Photo: Erik Smith | The Podium Finish)
RIDGEWAY, Va. — Aric Almirola’s time at Stewart-Haas Racing — and as a full-time driver — is coming to an end.
Almirola announced Saturday morning that he’s stepping away from SHR and the No. 10 team to scale back his racing load. He had previously announced his retirement before the 2022 season before deciding to come back for at least another season.
Additionally, longtime partner Smithfield also announced it will leave the sport following the season.
“It was not just about my timing,” Almirola explained in a media session on Saturday at Martinsville Speedway. “There were a lot of factors and a lot of key players, so it’s not just about me. It’s about making sure that we did it the right way and tried to do the best thing for all of our partners, make sure we do the best thing for the organization.
“It wasn’t just about me. If it was just about me I think I would have made the announcement a lot earlier just to make it to where you guys didn’t have to ask me every week, so there’s a lot of factors and there are a lot of things that happened behind closed doors that you just have to work through.”
Since joining Stewart-Haas Racing in 2018, Almirola has won twice — Talladega Superspeedway in the fall of that year and New Hampshire Motor Speedway in 2021.
The last two years, however, have been a struggle for the 39-year-old from Tampa, Florida. He’s missed the playoffs in both seasons and accumulated a combined 11 top 10 finishes, including just four in 2023 leading up to the penultimate race at Martinsville.
Big picture though — racing at SHR has been all Almirola could ask for.
(Photo: Riley Thompson | The Podium Finish)
“The friendships that I’ve made. The relationships that I’ve made, all of that will last forever and I’m grateful for that,” Almirola said. “I’ve very grateful for the six years that I’ve showed up to work every day there and they treat me like family. I feel extremely close to all of the employees over there and they brought me in with welcoming arms when I showed up in 2018 and it has been a really fun ride ever since.
“As a race car driver and as a competitor you always want more. I would have loved to have won more races and won a championship. That’s what I went over there for. I have won some races, so I’m proud of that and we’ve had a lot of success.”
He — along with Smithfield — worked with SHR on a program for 2024 but an agreement was never reached, Almirola said.
But the 12-year Cup veteran isn’t hoping to step away from racing entirely. He hinted at the possibility of running some Craftsman Truck Series or Xfinity Series races, but also wants to get into a Late Model.
“I’d like to not quit cold turkey. I think there are some opportunities, but it’s hard,” Almirola said. “It’s challenging to figure out things that make sense for race teams to do it part time. Most race teams want somebody to run full-time and race for a championship, so we’ll see if we can get it worked out. I’d love to still scratch the itch, but just don’t want to do it like I have been doing it for the last 12 years, where it’s 38 weeks and it’s a grind. I’m not complaining that it’s a grind because I’ve loved it and I signed up for it, but I think, for me, as I look toward the future and what my life looks like, I would like to find a better work-life balance than what I have currently.
“If there’s an opportunity to run a handful of truck races here and there or something like that, or run some Xfinity races, I think the door is open. I’ve had a lot of just amazing conversations over the last four to six months about different opportunities, so I want to stay involved in the industry. I love this industry. I love the people in the industry. This industry has afforded me and my family a wonderful life and I don’t want to just walk away from it.”
Almirola made two Xfinity starts this season, winning one of them for RSS Racing in a car prepared by SHR. That victory — if anything — reaffirmed his decision to return for one more season.
“The race win at Sonoma, that wouldn’t have happened if I didn’t come back for this year,” Almirola said. “That win, I want to say silly but that’s not a great term for it, but as insignificant as it would seem to many people, winning that Xfinity race at Sonoma, the fact that it happened and my family was there with me and the next week was our off week and we got to really just enjoy it and celebrate it, and my wife and kids were in victory lane, we really cherished it.
“That moment, several other moments throughout the year like that, we would have never had that and I do not regret one minute of this season. There’s been trials. Absolutely. But who doesn’t go through trials in life? I didn’t expect this year to be easy. I didn’t expect it to be all rainbows and kittens. I knew it would be a challenge. I knew that there would be ups and downs, but I signed up for it and I don’t regret one minute.”
