Aric Almirola announced Saturday morning on social media that he will leave Stewart-Haas Racing following the 2023 season, effectively retiring from the NASCAR Cup series fulltime.
“After much prayer, consideration, and conversations with my family, I’m ready for the next adventure,” the driver posted on social media.
The 39-year-old Tampa, Florida native has competed for sixteen seasons in the Cup series, the last six with Stewart-Haas Racing where two of his three Cup Series victories came.
“To everyone at Stewart-Haas Racing: A genuine and heartfelt THANK YOU for the last six years. Winning races and competing with all of you has been a thrill,” the statement for Almirola said. “Our opportunity together was made possible by all of our wonderful partners to which I owe much gratitude because as a racecar driver without corporate sponsorship. It’s been an honor to represent the many companies and all of their employees.”
In addition to his three Cup wins, Almirola also has four victories in the Xfinity Series and two in his lone full-time season in Craftsman Trucks. The most recent of those wins came this year in Xfinity competition at Sonoma Raceway in June.
Almirola currently ranks 22nd in the Cup Series standings, missing out on playoff eligibility for the second consecutive year. His season highlights include notching two pole positions (at Atlanta in July and Talladega in September) and winning a 150-mile qualifying race in the run-up to the season-opening Daytona 500.
Almirola is the second Stewart-Haas driver to announce a change in plans for next season. Kevin Harvick announced before the 2023 season that he would end his driving career, transitioning to the FOX Sports broadcast booth next year.
In 2022 Almirola said that he had started to slow down away from the track spending more time with his wife Janice, and his kids a son who will be 10 next month, and a daughter 8.
“I just found a wonderful balance to where I still can be the husband that I want to be and the father that I want to be and we did some really cool stuff this year,” he said then. “I forgot just what a wonderful opportunity it is to be a race car driver. Not only do I get to do what I love to do, but we get to travel around the country and go to all sorts of different cities, so we took that opportunity this year.
Beyond spending time with his family, the future is uncertain. Saturday, he made no indication beyond ending his statement with “As for the future… Proverbs 19:21” which reads “Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.”
— Aric Almirola (@Aric_Almirola) October 28, 2023
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.