NASCAR: Top 5 free agents for the 2022 season
By Asher Fair
Top 5 free agents for 2022: No. 5 – Aric Almirola
Aric Almirola has struggled throughout the first half of the 2021 season, and the fact that he hasn’t found victory lane in almost three years doesn’t necessarily help his case.
Fortunately for him, he is still in a good place sponsorship-wise, with longtime partner Smithfield serving as the primary sponsor of his #10 Ford at Stewart-Haas Racing after signing a deal to return to the team for a fourth year late last season.
Plus, Stewart-Haas Racing have struggled as a whole so far this year, so it’s hard to pin Almirola’s struggles exclusively on him. With that being said, he does sit in the second worst position among the team’s four drivers in the standings, despite being the lone veteran alongside teammate Kevin Harvick.
In his first season with the team in 2018, he won a race and advanced to the round of 8 in the playoffs before ultimately finishing as the top non-Championship 4 driver in fifth place in the championship standings. This came after five straight seasons of the driver of the #10 Ford finishing in 24th or lower without a single top five finish in any race.
Almirola regressed slightly in 2019 but bounced back with a career year in 2020, although his hot streak came too early. He suffered a round of 12 playoff elimination and finished in 15th place in the championship standings, his worst in three seasons with the team.