Daytona 500: Aric Almirola seeks victory at the 'biggest race of the year' after coming close multiple times

The 65th annual Daytona 500 is set to roll out this Sunday at the Daytona International Speedway, and Aric Almirola will be on his home race track. He is set to represent Stewart-Haas Racing in his #10 Ford Mustang.

The 38-year-old has tasted wins in both Xfinity and Cup cars and has also come close to winning multiple times.

Heading to Florida, Almirola stated that it’s always exciting to run at the 2.5-mile-long Superspeedway in front of his home crowd. Speaking about chances to win the 2023 Daytona 500, he said that it is the most prestigious race of the year and everyone wants to win.

In a recent interview, Almirola expressed his excitement about running on his home track and revealed what makes the Daytona 500, the greatest race of the year.

“First off, Daytona is always exciting for me. It’s my home race track, having grown up just two hours away in Tampa, I have a lot of childhood memories from going there with my family. To top it off, I’ve won there both in Xfinity and Cup cars. I just have a tremendous amount of fond memories of spectating at Daytona, even all the way back to my beginning days. I would go back and go-kart in Daytona. It’s always exciting because it brings back all those great memories.”

He continued:

“Not to mention, it’s the world center of racing. It’s the greatest place on earth to go race at. It’s the biggest race of the year, the one everyone wants to win. Your name is forever etched in history. There’s just no other race like it.”

Aric Almirola’s future in NASCAR’s top series is in doubt after the 2023 season, so this year’s Daytona 500 may be his last chance to win the Great American Race.

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Aric Almirola is optimistic about the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season

After Aric Almirola won the second qualifying race for the Daytona 500, it looks like he made the right decision by calling off his retirement midway through last year. He is looking forward to performing well going into the 2023 season.

Speaking about the new season, Almirola said he is excited about competing again:

“I’m just excited for a new season in general. Every year, at this time of the year, it’s just exciting and it’s a land of opportunity. Every single weekend is a new opportunity to go win. I think that’s what I’m looking forward to the most, just coming back for another year with the same crew chief and the same group of guys and trying to go compete at a higher level and win races.”

Catch Aric Almirola in action at the Daytona International Speedway on February 19 when he will start from the fourth starting position on the 40-car field.