Aric Almirola had 'nerve-wracking' lap on his way to Quaker State 400 pole award

With the pole award secured, Aric Almirola is set to take his best start of the NASCAR season at Atlanta Motor Speedway. It wasn’t just a wild day for Almirola and the No. 10 team. All of the Fords seemed to have something going for them that the Chevys and Toyotas did not. Harrison Burton will start P5! Blue oval domination.

The Fords just found something on the setup. Kyle Larson remarked he was going to just try not to wreck his Chevy Camaro. Even Aric Almirola, the pole winner, was unable to have a comfortable lap around the new Atlanta track.

Even for the fastest man on the track with the best grip, Almirola had a nervous lap.

“Here, with the track starting to degrade some over the winter, and now we’re in the hot summer months of July in Atlanta, the car’s a handful to try to run wide-open,” Almirola said, via NASCAR. “A lot more nerve-wracking, much like it was with the Gen 6 car when you’re absolutely flying around here, slipping and sliding on that old surface.

“It was an exciting lap—we’ve been working really hard to bring more speed to the race track, and it’s great to get a pole.”

This is a part of the schedule that Aric Almirola and his team see as a big opportunity. If he’s going to get a win and a spot in the playoffs, the next eight races is his best time to do it.

Aric Almirola leads field to green for Quaker State 400

In a day that was all about Ford, it was the No. 10 that led the way. Early on in qualifying you could tell that something was up with the Chevys and Toyotas. There were even issues drivers had keeping their cars under control. While he was making his qualifying lap, Bubba Wallace had to pull out instead of risk wrecking.

So, what can we expect from Almirola and his team? I think that he has a good chance of pulling off a win. But if his crew doesn’t give him the support he needs, it could go sideways, quickly.

With superspeedway-style racing on this track, it will help that Almirola has Ford teammates nearby to work with. He even has some Stewart-Haas company near the front.

Aric Almirola is going to lead the field to green in the Quaker State 400. He has a spot in the playoffs in his eyes and will do his best to take it.