NASCAR: Aric Almirola reacts to Austin Dillon's last-lap pass

Aric Almirola discussed Austin Dillon’s last-lap pass on him that allowed Dillon to win NASCAR’s most prestigious race, the Daytona 500.

The 2018 NASCAR Cup Series season started in chaotic fashion with the 60th annual Daytona 500. On the final lap of the race, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Aric Almirola had the lead heading into the third turn of the 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway tri-oval in Daytona Beach, Florida.

However, Austin Dillon had a run on the #10 Ford of Almirola in his #3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. Almirola shifted over to block him, which led Dillon to make contact with him. This caused Almirola to spin out and ended his hopes at winning the race.

Dillon took the lead as a result of this and went on to win the race. He has now won two races in his Cup Series career, with his other win coming in last year’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway thanks to great fuel mileage.

Here is a video of the chaotic 2018 Daytona 500 finish.

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Almirola ended up finishing in 11th place in the race after what many people have deemed to be quite the controversial finish.

However, while Almirola is justifiably heartbroken after coming so close to winning the Daytona 500, he was nowhere near as angry with Dillon as many would have expected him to be. In fact, he really wasn’t angry at all and actually justified Dillon’s move on him.

Most of the outrage and controversy over this finish has been created by the public as opposed to the drivers themselves, which is not always the case after a high-pressure situation in such a high-stakes race such as this one. Just ask Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin.

Here is what Almirola had to say about the accident after being checked and released from the infield medical center following the last-lap wreck, according to Racer.com.

"“Ha! He’s not driving too aggressively, he’s trying to win the Daytona 500 just like I was. I saw him come with the momentum and I pulled up to block and did exactly what I needed to do to try to win the Daytona 500. I wasn’t going to just let him have it – I wasn’t going to stay on the bottom and let him rail the outside.“So I blocked and he got to my bumper and pushed and I thought I was still going to be OK…and somehow I got hooked. I haven’t even seen the replay, so I don’t know what happened. I’m just devastated. I really thought we were going to start this relationship off with Stewart-Haas Racing in victory lane, and get [sponsor] Smithfield and Ford and everybody to victory lane.”"

Next: Top 10 NASCAR drivers of all-time

Will Aric Almirola be able to win a race this season driving for his new team, Stewart-Haas Racing? His next chance to do so is set to be the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500, which is scheduled for Sunday, February 25th at 2:00 pm ET at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia. This race set to be broadcast live on FOX at that time.

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NASCAR: Aric Almirola reacts to Austin Dillon’s last-lap pass

By Asher Fair | Feb 19, 2018

Aric Almirola discussed Austin Dillon’s last-lap pass on him that allowed Dillon to win NASCAR’s most prestigious race, the Daytona 500.