NASCAR veteran Aric Almirola announces he'll retire after 2022 season

NASCAR driver Aric Almirola says the 2022 season will be his last before retirement.

"To be the best in this business you've got to be selfish and for the last 37 years my life has always revolved around me and what I needed to do," Almirola said Monday, via ESPN. "I want to be present. I want to be the best husband and father, and that to me means more than being a racecar driver.

"So it's one more year where I'm all in on racing, where we'll do whatever it takes to compete at the highest level. But when the season is over, I'll be ready to wave goodbye. I've loved every minute of it, but it's time for the next chapter of my life."

Almirola, 37, made his NASCAR Cup Series debut in 2007 and drove on a part-time basis for several years before becoming a full-time drive in 2012. His first win came when he took the checkered flag in the rain-shortened 2014 Coke Zero 400 at Daytona Speedway. Most recently, Almirola won the 2021 Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

The 2022 NASCAR Cup Series will begin with the Daytona 500 on Feb. 20.