Aric Almirola explains why NASCAR drivers had ‘severe headaches’ after racing at Watkins Glen
Semi-retired NASCAR driver Aric Almirola is back in the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing car for the Xfinity Series at Watkins Glen. He is providing insight into why NASCAR took the time to modify parts of the track for driver safety.
Earlier this year, Kyle Larson shared mouthpiece data from Watkins Glen on his social media. It showed that the driver was experiencing 18Gs of force to his head every time through the bus stop curbs.
Curbing has been changed and now, the hope is that drivers won’t be exposed to so much force. Aric Almirola spoke with Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports about the violence of the old configuration and why drivers were having massive headaches after races at The Glen.
“It hurt. Mostly with the Cup car, the Xfinity cars run a little bit more on standard suspension so it’s not as violent because the car is a little bit more forgiving the car, there’s a lot more body movement in the Xfinity car so it absorbs the high velocity of the curbs better,” Almirola explained. “But the Cup cars are so rigid and they run them so stiff and they bottom out on the shock limiters. So, when you hit those curbs in the Cup car, it was just violent.
“We run such tight head surround foam for the headrest that your head just kinda feels like a bouncy ball in between the left and right side of the headrest. It would, it would literally hurt, Bob. When the race was over, Watkins Glen was probably the worst headache I’ve had from any race I’ve run, and it wasn’t carbon monoxide poisoning or from being dehydrated, it was from my head bouncing off of the headrest.”
Aric Almirola avoided curbs under caution at Watkins Glen
Good news for Aric Almirola, he’s racing in the Xfinity Series this weekend. So, the rigid Cup car won’t even have a chance to give him a headache. But he’s going to have a good shot at a win this weekend.
Almirola continued speaking with Pockrass about the issues with the old Watkins Glen configuration. The bus stop just threw drivers around in the car. It was not an ideal situation.
“It’s more the head for me at least, my back didn’t really hurt because you know I didn’t feel like there was a ton of load going up my spine,” Almirola said. “It was more the left-right. The launching off of the right curb, landing, and as soon as you land you’re picking up the left curb so your head is just oscillating back and forth between the left and right headrest and that constant bouncing off the headrest was what was violent for me.
“Other drivers might have a different scenario but for me, it was the bouncing off the headrest which was, violent, and that was what was causing me to have just crazy headaches. I mean even under caution I was very adamant to not run across the curbing in the bus stop or really anywhere because my head was hurting so bad by the end of the race. You just, you don’t even want to touch the curbs even riding around under caution because you just want it to be as smooth as possible you don’t want your head to jerk around or bounce off the headrest anymore because you’re really just over it.”
Aric Almirola is back for Watkins Glen. Is he going to take the No. 20 back to Victory Lane on Saturday?