A loose wheel cost Aric Almirola another shot at a win at New Hampshire Motor Speedway Monday. After starting seventh the 2021 winner at Loudon finished Stage 1 in fourth and was running as high as second at one point.
But after pit stops on lap 170 on the restart, Almirola learned the hard way that the right rear tire on his Ford was loose when the wheel came off sending the car into the outside wall and out of the race.
Almirola said he knew something was wrong even before the green flag.
“I thought it (the right-rear) felt a little bit awkward leaving pit road,” Almirola said. “But then after that, working my tires in and going through the gears before the restart, ya know… I spun the tires a few times – everything felt normal.
“I didn’t really have any concerns going into the restart, and then, obviously the right-rear wheel came off. So, just really, really disappointed.
“This race team has been working so hard to bring fast race cars to the track. I’m so proud of everybody – Drew and all the guys on our team. We’re not capitalizing when we have cars capable of running up-front. Just frustrating… disappointing… all the words you can use to describe being upset is certainly where we are. I hate it. I hate it for Smithfield. I hate it for Ford… Mobil 1, HighPoint.com, Go Bowling – everybody that puts so much into this program that we can’t get results.”
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.