Aric Almirola AAA Texas 500 Race Reap

Aric Almirola fought for a top-15 finish at Texas Motor Speedway against a host of adversaries that included a free-handling car, the sun and the track itself. Almirola started Sunday’s race from the 14th position and learned quickly that “loose” would be the word for the day when talking about the handling of his No. 43 Farmland Ford.  With the first 100 laps of the race running caution-free, the team used two green-flag pit stops to make air pressure and chassis adjustments to help tighten up the car.  Despite continuing to report a loose condition on entry and exit, Almirola had a fast Ford Fusion and ran as high as 11th, able to close some gaps, one by one, that strung out the field over the long green-flag runs. The lack of caution flags ended on Lap 100, when the yellow came out for debris on the track.  At this time, Almirola told crew chief Todd Parrott that he didn’t like the adjustments made on his second green-flag stop and wanted to reverse them.  A pit stop on Lap 100 a...