NASCAR: Aric Almirola advances to All-Star Race
By Asher Fair
Aric Almirola advanced to the NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race at Bristol Motor Speedway by winning the opening stage of the All-Star Open.
Stewart-Haas Racing’s Aric Almirola became the 17th driver to secure a spot in the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race at Bristol Motor Speedway and the first to do so in tonight’s All-Star Open, as he won the opening stage of the last-chance qualifier.
Almirola, who started this 35-lap first stage around the four-turn, 0.533-mile (0.858-kilometer) high-banked oval in Bristol, Tennessee in second place in his #10 Ford, held off Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron in his #24 Chevrolet by 0.441 seconds to secure his spot in tonight’s race for $1 million.
As a result, Almirola will not compete in the remainder of tonight’s 85-lap All-Star Open as he prepares for the 140-lap All-Star Race. He is set to start that race in 15th place due to the penalty issued to initial polesitter Martin Truex Jr. of Joe Gibbs Racing.
More from NASCAR Cup Series
- NASCAR Cup Series: New team set to compete in 2024
- NASCAR: Surprising name continuously linked to new seat
- NASCAR driver at risk of missing the Daytona 500?
- NASCAR set for rare appearance last seen 13 years ago
- NASCAR team adds third car, names driver for 2024 Daytona 500
Germain Racing’s Ty Dillon finished this stage in third place in his #13 Chevrolet ahead of JTG Daugherty Racing’s Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in fourth in his #47 Chevrolet and Roush Fenway Racing’s Chris Buescher in fifth in his #17 Ford.
Rounding out the top 10 in this stage were Stewart-Haas Racing’s Clint Bowyer, Go Fas Racing’s Corey LaJoie, Gaunt Brothers Racing’s Daniel Suarez, Wood Brothers Racing’s Matt DiBenedetto and Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon in sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th place in their #14 Ford, #32 Ford, #96 Toyota, #21 Ford and #3 Chevrolet, respectively.
This stage featured one lead change, with Almirola taking the lead from polesitter Michael McDowell of Front Row Motorsports after McDowell led the race’s first 10 laps in his #34 Ford. Almirola led the final 25 laps of the stage.
McDowell was then involved in a wreck involving Byron and Richard Petty Motorsports’ Bubba Wallace, a wreck which brought out the stage’s only caution flag period.
Here are the full results of the first stage of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Open at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Stage Results
1st – Aric Almirola
2nd – William Byron
3rd – Ty Dillon
4th – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
5th – Chris Buescher
6th – Clint Bowyer
7th – Corey LaJoie
8th – Daniel Suarez
9th – Matt DiBenedetto
10th – Austin Dillon
11th – Christopher Bell
12th – John Hunter Nemechek
13th – Michael McDowell
14th – Ryan Preece
15th – Tyler Reddick
16th – Brennan Poole
17th – J.J. Yeley
18th – Quin Houff
19th – Joey Gase
20th – Garrett Smithley
21st – Bubba Wallace
Top 10 NASCAR drivers of all-time. dark. Next
Tune in to Fox Sports 1 right now for the remainder of the All-Star Open, and stay tuned in for the live broadcast of the All-Star Race tonight at 8:30 p.m. ET.