Talk about heartbreak. Aric Almirola, who entered Monday’s Crayon 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway 27th in the championship standings, found himself in the lead on Lap 165.
The driver of the No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang looked to be in a position to pull off an upset win, as he had been running second to Martin Truex Jr. for a large portion of the day. However, on a restart at Lap 169, the right rear wheel broke loose from Almirola’s car, which caused the No. 10 machine to skid out of control.
Almirola attempted to wrangle the car, but it was no use as the car slammed into the outside wall in Turn 2.
Here is a video of Almirola’s incident:
An absolute heartbreaking moment for @AricAlmirola and the No. 10 @StewartHaasRcng team. Here is video of what ended a potential race-winning day: pic.twitter.com/SfaOebfYQ8
— Toby Christie (@Toby_Christie) July 17, 2023
Instead of a win, Monday will result in a DNF for Almirola and the No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing team. A big opportunity was lost.