KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Aric Almirola was airlifted to a local hospital after a severe crash late in Saturday night’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway.
Almirola’s Richard Petty Motorsports No. 43 Ford was the third car involved in the multicar stack-up, triggered when a breakage on Joey Logano’s No. 22 forced contact with Danica Patrick’s No. 10 entering Turn 1 on the 1.5-mile track. Both cars hit hard, with Almirola’s entry sliding into the melee, its rear end lifting off the ground.
The crash produced a red flag with 200 of the 267 laps complete in the Go Bowling 400, giving safety workers time to extract Almirola by cutting through the roof of his car. The 33-year-old driver was described as alert and awake as he was removed from the car onto a backboard, his neck stabilized by a brace.
Almirola was airlifted to the University of Kansas Medical Center. The nature of any potential injuries were not released, but Richard Petty Motorsports provided an update nearly two hours after the checkered flag, confirming that Almirola was in stable condition and that he would be held overnight for further observation. The team indicated that it would “provide further updates when appropriate.”
“I just hope everyone is OK,” said Logano, who was uninjured. “I hope Aric is all right. That’s the last thing you want to see, a big hit like that for anyone. It’s unfortunate for everyone.”
Logano and Patrick were evaluated and released from the track’s infield care center. The two had a spirited conversation before taking the mandatory ambulance ride to the infield, but Logano explained that an unknown parts failure on his car’s right-front had caused his car to break loose.
“I just told here something broke. There’s nothing I could have done,” Logano said. “I don’t know what happened. Like I said, something broke and tore up a bunch of really good cars.”
Patrick was saddled with her fifth failure to finish in 11 races this season. Four of those have been crash-related. Logano’s explanation was small consolation, she said.
“When he said he had a failure I can’t say it made me feel that much better in the moment,” Patrick said. “I am just frustrated for the lack of breaks I get. It seems like every time things are going better and something happens I get crashed or am in a crash.”