Aric Almirola didn’t leave Kansas Speedway the way he wanted in the spring after an accident in the race sidelined him for eight weeks. A track where he and the No. 43 Smithfield Ford team have shown speed, Almirola hopes to return to a good finish this weekend. Fully healed from his injury and back at it, he has no hesitation getting back on track.
Almirola has 11 Monster Energy Series starts. He scored three Top-10 finishes with his best of eighth coming in the spring of 2013 and 2014. Almirola also has experience leading the field at Kansas Speedway. In the fall race in 2012, Almirola led 69 laps and was poised for the win when a blown tire ended the team’s day early.
Almirola: “I always like going to Kansas. It’s a track where we’ve been able to compete up front in the past, so we are always excited to see if we can improve on that. I have no hesitation heading back after the accident here in the spring. It had nothing to do with the track and was just a product of hard racing. I’m fully healed and ready to head back out there. We had a good week last week and really fought for a Top-Five finish. We’ll try to use that momentum this week to get a good finish as we near the end of the season.”
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