NASCAR: 5 driver moves we want to see for 2023
By Asher Fair
NASCAR driver moves we want to see: No. 3 – Aric Almirola unretires
And it looks like we’ll get our wish on this one.
Before the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season began, Aric Almirola announced that it would be his 15th and final season competing at the sport’s highest level, citing family as the driving force behind his decision.
One of the reasons why he made the announcement when he did was to give the team and partners the necessary time to find a replacement for him behind the wheel of the Smithfield-sponsored #10 Ford for 2023.
Yet several months later, there had still been no official announcement regarding who will replace him next year.
Almirola had reiterated that he was done competing full-time, but recent comments by several individuals, including the 38-year-old Fort Walton Beach, Florida native himself, indicated that a return was not actually off the table.
Now it has been reported earlier this week that Almirola is set to return for another season with Stewart-Haas Racing behind the wheel of the #10 Ford, with an official announcement set to come from him and the team within the next few weeks.
With Smithfield set to return for another season as his primary sponsor, it can be assumed that he is returning full-time. But even if he were only to return part-time and Stewart-Haas Racing needed to select another driver or drivers to fill the seat, it’s out of the question that Kyle Busch, who had been among those considered for the #10 Ford, will share a ride.