When A Win Is Not A Win - Almirola's Disappointment

Last Saturday night's Busch race at the Milwaukee Mile was disappointing for me as a fan. I can't imagine the disappointment of a young racer named Aric Almirola.

The racing itself wasn't bad. That wasn't the problem. The problem was the business of racing got in the way of what could have been great racing, and an amazing night - a first Busch Series win - for a young up and coming racecar driver. But I guess we'll never know.

Nextel Cup driver Denny Hamlin flew cross-country (from Infinion Raceway in California where the Cup Series raced Sunday) to race the Joe Gibbs Busch Series car in the AT&T 250 at the Milwaukee Mile in Wisconsin. This had been the plan, but what seemed to be a comedy of errors saw Hamlin getting there late (remember it was a comedy of errors that sank the Titanic). Hamlin was too late to qualify the car, even too late to start the race.

Good business always has a “Plan B”. Enter Aric Almirola. The schedule to get Hamiln there on time was a tight one under the best circumstances, and Aric was on hand as a “backup” driver just in case for some reason Hamiln didn’t make it. The 23-year old Almirola put Gibbs’ Rockwell Automation Chevy on the pole, getting the team the first and best pit stall selection.

With Denny still not at the track, Almirola, a Florida native, started the race and ran in the top 5 or 10 cars, leading laps. On a caution on lap 59, his crew chief asked him to come in and get out of the car, for Denny to get in. Almirola was running third at the time. Hamiln got in the car and went on to win the race (in the car Almirola had set up and qualified). Aric Almirola was credited with his first NASCAR Busch Series win because he was the driver who started the race and that’s the way the rules go.

Aric, visibly absent, did not participate in the team’s rather subdued victory celebrations after the race. We were told it was a “team” decision to swap out the driver. Milwaukee is the “home” of team sponsor Rockwell Automation. As such, we can bet Rockwell had a ton of staff schmoozing V.I.P.'s and guests there Saturday night. They were all expecting Denny in the car.

As fans, we’ll never know who actually made the call to put Denny in. Some will say Denny whined about coming all that way to sit and watch. Others will say Denny didn’t want to see Aric pulled but had to go with the wishes of his employer. Some will blame J.D. and/or Coach Gibbs for making the call. Others will speculate the sponsor pulled rank and demanded the popular Nextel Cup driver replace the more inexperienced and unknown driver – the one who had worked so hard to set up a great car. That would mean someone at Gibbs bowed to the pressure. And so did Hamiln. Somehow, somewhere, somebody didn’t stand up for Almirola, and for what was right. A comedey of errors. A tradgedy, really.

Fox TV Analyst and former crew cheif Larry McReynolds summed it up well:

“We realize Hamlin flew all that way, and JGR paid a lot of money for him to race. But I don't understand taking a guy out of a car after winning the pole and leading a bunch of laps. You would think that the sponsor wouldn't care who was driving if the car was running up front. It was still going to get great coverage. If the car had qualified 10th or 12th and was running 15th, so be it. Put Hamlin in there.

It obviously worked out well, but I can imagine the dejection that Almirola had to feel and what an insult it had to have been. Business is business, but it was the most absurd deal that I have ever seen. What a slap in the face for Almirola to do such an awesome job and have it taken away from him.”

Who knows if Almirola could have gone on to put the car in Victory Lane or not. I suspect Aric, in his heart of hearts knows. The actions of those at Rockwell and Gibbs disappointed me. Perhaps it didn’t seem like such a bad decision at the time. Perhaps they didn’t think it through. Perhaps they did and wanted the press time (some would say even bad press is good press when it’s free) they knew such a goofy decision would garner.

I know racing is business. BIG business. But it seems a shame business got in the way of racing Saturday night. In the way of what was right.

And that is when a win is not a win.