There wasn't much left of Aric Almirola's No. 18 Chevrolet after an accident in Turn 2 during testing at Daytona. Credit: Turner Sports New Media

Almirola uninjured in Busch draft test accident

22-year-old says NASCAR's commitment to safety saved him

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- After surviving a multiple flip down Daytona International Speedway's backstretch Sunday afternoon, Busch Series rookie Aric Almirola praised his new six-point harness for preserving his safety.

The veteran Ron Hornaday had walked from his garage, nearly 300 yards from the care center to make sure Almirola was OK.

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But upon verifying that, Hornaday quickly asked about the performance of the six-point harness that's been mandated for this season, asking if Almirola had experienced the "submarine" effect sometimes seen with a five-strap system.

Almirola, with a smile, said he hadn't moved within his restraints and he was thrilled with their performance.

After the most serious accident in 13 days of Jackson Hewitt Preseason Thunder, the 22-year-old Tampa, Fla., driver was lucky to escape unscathed.

Almirola said the brand new right-rear tire on his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet "shredded apart" coming through Turn 2 on his first flying lap near the tail end of a six-to-eight-car draft.

"Those things don't ride real well on the inner-liner," Almirola said. "It got loose and it got sideways and I don't know what happened after that. I closed my eyes and when I opened them again, all I saw was sparks and the racetrack."

Bill Elliott's spotter, Keith Barnwell, said his veteran driver had just turned left to drive under Almirola when the rookie's car slid sideways, to where Elliott unavoidably hit it in the left-rear corner.

That impact lifted Almirola's car off the ground and flipped it over the top of Elliott's No. 9 Evernham Motorsports Dodge, Barnwell said.

"I closed my eyes and when I opened them again, all I saw was sparks and the racetrack." - Aric Almirola

Barnwell was amazed his test pilot, who was in Daytona to set up the car for its Speedweeks 2007 driver, Kasey Kahne, "didn't get out of shape and didn't even flat-spot a tire."

Almirola was in a different shape.

"We got upside down and I was fine," Almirola said. "I was talking to my guys on the roof, telling them I was fine, and then as soon as I hit the grass, it just dug in and started flipping.

"I'm just really thankful for all the precautionary measures that NASCAR takes with all the safety equipment [because] I'm walking back to the trailer, probably gonna clean up and go home."

The damage to the car was such that, when it came to rest upside-down, Almirola stayed in it until Daytona's rescue crew righted his car by hooking a wrecker to it with a tow-strap to pull it over.

"I was going to get out and the roof was smashed down just a little bit," Almirola said. "So when the rescue workers got to me, they told me just to hang tight and they would flip me over and pull me out.

"It's a lot better that way. When you unbuckle your belts and you're upside down you just slam into the roof and then you've got to try to wiggle your way out. This way works a lot better [but] usually most guys are in a hurry to get out, but I wasn't on fire or anything, so other than blood rushing to my head I was fine."

Bill Elliott clipped Almirola's car causing him to flip. Credit: Turner Sports New Media

Crew chief Jason Ratcliff also walked to the care center and went in to visit with his driver.

"We won't be using that car during Speedweeks," he said to Almirola when they exited the medical facility.

"We'll be back," Almirola said. "We've got more racecars."

"That's why we stopped practicing drafting [Saturday]," Ganassi Racing crew chief Brad Parrott said as he passed by Ratcliff, who was on his way to the care center. "Right after that accident [David Ragan and Jason Leffler] happened behind us [Saturday], that was it for us drafting."

Of course, another veteran, Mike Wallace, said different perspectives lead to different conclusions.

"You come here to test, to figure out everything you don't have time to do during an ordinary race weekend," said Wallace, driver of the No. 7 Phoenix Racing Chevrolet. "The only way you would stop drafting early is if you had already found out everything you needed to learn."