Almirola 22nd at Charlotte

Race Winner: Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)

Stage 1 Winner: Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)

Stage 2 Winner: Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)

Stage 3 Winner: Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)

 

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-100):

● Aric Almirola started 31st and finished 22nd.

● The Smithfield Ford driver pitted on lap 52 for four fresh tires, fuel and adjustments.

● Almirola went one lap down when he returned to the field and raced to 23rd by lap 77.

● The No. 10 Ford was two spots short of rejoining the lead lap when the stage ended.

● He pitted for four fresh tires, fuel and air pressure and chassis adjustments when the stage concluded.

 

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 101-200):

● Almirola started 26th and finished 26th.

● Almirola pitted from 21st on lap 150 while still one lap down.

● The caution was called on lap 173. The No. 10 team opted not to pit.

● Almirola pitted at the end of the stage for four fresh tires, fuel and more adjustments.

 

Stage 3 Recap (Laps 201-300):

● Almirola started 26th and finished 24th.

● Almirola pitted under green on lap 247 for four tires, fuel and air pressure adjustments.

● The caution was called with five laps to go in the stage.

● Almirola pitted for four tires, fuel and more air pressure adjustments when the stage concluded.

 

Final Stage Recap (Laps 301-400):

● Almirola started 23rd and finished 22nd.

● Almirola raced in and around 23rd but said grip was falling off more as the race went on.

● Due to green-flag pit stops cycling through, the Smithfield driver race to 22nd before the race concluded.

 

Aric Almirola, driver of the No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

“We battled all day to improve the handling and speed of our Smithfield Ford Mustang. We got caught a lap down early and just couldn’t recover. When we had clean air we were one of the fastest cars, but I just couldn’t find any grip in traffic. We raced our tails off to try to find something, and our pit crew had a great day. Moving on to Sonoma.”

 

Notes:

● Kyle Larson won the Coca-Cola 600 to score his eighth career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his second of the season and his first at Charlotte. His margin over second-place Chase Elliott was 10.051 seconds.

● There were four caution periods for a total of 26 laps.

● Only 14 of the 38 drivers in the Coca-Cola 600 finished on the lead lap.

● Denny Hamlin remains the championship leader after Charlotte with a 76-point advantage over second-place Larson.

 

Next Up:

The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Save Mart 350k on Sunday, June 6, at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway. The race begins at 4 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FS1 and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. 

 

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