NASCAR: Aric Almirola addition proves to be an upgrade for Stewart-Haas Racing

The addition of Aric Almirola for the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series season proved to be a huge upgrade for Stewart-Haas Racing behind the wheel of the #10 Ford.

After spending 10 seasons in the NASCAR Cup Series, of which six he spent as a full-time driver, Aric Almirola signed with Stewart-Haas Racing for the 2018 Cup Series season as the replacement for Danica Patrick behind the wheel of the #10 Ford.

Almirola, whose career-high finish in the championship standings was 16th place, which he recorded in the 2014 season, entering his first season as a Stewart-Haas Racing driver, had a career year in 2018 and ended up finishing in fifth in the standings as the “best of the rest” behind the four Championship 4 drivers.

The 34-year-old Fort Walton Beach, Florida native doubled his career win total from one to two this year by winning the round of 12 race at Talladega Superspeedway, which locked him into the round of 8 despite the fact that many fans believed that he would not even advance from the round of 16 to the round of 12 after he secured his second career playoff berth.

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Throughout the 36-race season, Almirola racked up a career-high four top five finishes and a career-high 17 top 10 finishes as well. He recorded a career-high starting position of 15.6 and a career-high average finishing position of 12.8. He led a career-high 181 laps of the 10,003 laps he completed.

Just as the 2018 season was a career year for Almirola by far, it was also a career year for the #10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford by far. As a Stewart-Haas Racing car, the #10 car (#10 Chevrolet from 2012 to 2016, #10 Ford from 2017 to present) had never won a race before Almirola began driving it. In fact, it had never had much success at all, as it was never driven to a top five finish in a race nor a top 23 finish in the championship standings.

Patrick drove the #10 car as a full-time driver from the 2013 season through the 2017 season, and she drove it in 10 races in the 2012 season as a result of the fact that Stewart-Haas Racing and Tommy Baldwin Racing formed a partnership to field it for her.

In her 190 races behind the wheel of the #10 car, Patrick recorded just seven top 10 finishes. Her best finish in an individual race was sixth place, which she recorded in the 2014 race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, and her best finishes in the championship standings as a full-time driver were her 24th place finishes, which she recorded in the 2015 season and the 2016 season.

It’s safe to say that Stewart-Haas Racing have found a replacement for Patrick who is more than capable of delivering solid results for the team considering the fact that the 2018 season was the best season of the #10 car’s history as a Stewart-Haas Racing car by a wide margin, and it is safe to say that this replacement is more than enjoying his time driving the #10 Ford considering the fact that the 2018 season was the best season of his Cup Series career by a wide margin.

How will Aric Almirola perform as the driver of the #10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford in the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series season? Will he take the next step and reach the Championship 4 after being eliminated following the round of 8 this season? The 2019 season is scheduled to get underway with the Daytona 500 from Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida on Sunday, February 17, 2019. Be sure not to miss this race or any of the other 35 races on next year’s schedule.