Aric Almirola has been put in a unique perspective this year to experience the current state of NASCAR racing.
The Richard Petty Motorsports driver competed in the first 11 races of the Cup season before a crash at Kansas Speedway put him on the sidelines for eight weeks with a T5 compression fracture in his back.
The 33-year-old driver was asked by NASCAR America to address the condition of racing in light of Brad Keselowski’s criticisms of the current generation of Cup car.
“It’s as competitive today as it’s ever been,” Almirola said. “It doesn’t look that way when you watch the race (at Kentucky) and see Martin Truex Jr. dominate, but I’m telling you it is so competitive. You see Kyle Larson get fined and docked points for a fan they have blowing air for cooling and they’re misdirecting air. That’s to find a few counts of downforce. That make a difference.
“NASCAR’s put us in a box to where these small differences matter. ... I call it stacking pennies.”
Watch the video for all of Almirola’s comments.