At the beginning of the 2022 racing season Aric Almirola announced that this would be his final season as a full time driver in the Stewart-Haas Racing number 10 car. However, as the season has progressed, Almirola’s decision has become somewhat more unclear.
When asked about his future, Almirola has no definitive answers; the latest report is that the driver’s future is uncertain.
Motorsport.com has reported that Almirola will be returning to the number 10 car for the 2023 season but the driver himself has not confirmed those reports.
When asked about his future as a driver at Watkins Glen International, Almirola said, “a lot of thinking, a lot of praying about it. That’s something that’s been very instrumental for me throughout my entire career and especially the last four or five years, I’ve (put) God first in a lot of the decisions, and I’m working on getting there to where He’s first in all of these decisions. Sometimes, I have a bad habit of thinking that I know what’s best. But certainly have prayed a lot about it and continue to think about it and still don’t have a final decision.”
He added, “I think a lot of that just stems from being smart enough to never say never and to be open to what doors God may or may not open — and to be accepting to whatever doors close, right? And I think back to my whole career. There’s plenty of times where I shouldn’t have had another opportunity, and I did. And the only way I can explain it is by God’s grace. And there’s plenty of times that I should have had a door close, and it didn’t. And when I think back to when I was 19 years old and got the opportunity to move from Florida to North Carolina, that is without a doubt God working in my life to allow that opportunity. Because I should have went to school and finished and got my mechanical engineering degree and moved to North Carolina and been an engineer on one of these teams in the garage area. But that wasn’t the case.”
Almirola originally. Item wanting to spend more time with his family, especially now that his children are getting bigger, as the reason for his wanting to retire.
feature photo credit: Aric Almirola Driver Introductions Pocono 2022.jpg