Aric Almirola AdvoCare 500 Race Recap

What started playing out to be an uneventful Sprint Cup race with lengthy green-flag runs finished up as a wreckfest, with Aric Almirola fighting for a top-20 finish despite incurring damages resulting from other drivers’ actions. Almirola started Sunday’s AdvoCare 500 near the front after a fast qualifying effort put his Farmland Ford fifth on the grid.  After initially climbing two positions, the No. 43 dropped back a few spots but maintained a hold on a top-10 spot for the first 125 laps of the race.  During the team’s first two pit stops, crew chief Todd Parrott and the No. 43 crew worked to tighten up the car on entry to the turns and loosen it up through the center and exit. By Almirola’s third pit stop, under a debris caution on Lap 167, he was in eighth and running fast laps, often as fast as the race leader.  With tire wear not showing to be an issue for the team, Parrott made the call for a two-tire stop, allowing Almirola to return to the track in fifth.  Unfortunately, t...