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Ask Aric Almirola: What does a NASCAR vet think of the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg?

The Hillsborough High alum initially thought he might pursue IndyCar instead of NASCAR.
 
If things had worked out differently, maybe Tampa's Aric Almirola would have been racing against St. Petersburg resident Sebastien Bourdais in this weekend's Grand Prix of St. Petersburg ( DIRK SHADD | Times)
If things had worked out differently, maybe Tampa's Aric Almirola would have been racing against St. Petersburg resident Sebastien Bourdais in this weekend's Grand Prix of St. Petersburg ( DIRK SHADD | Times)
Published March 6, 2019|Updated March 6, 2019

Tampa’s Aric Almirola won’t be able to watch Sunday’s Grand Prix of St. Petersburg; he’ll be busy at Arizona’s ISM Raceway, where he’s trying to record to record a third consecutive top-10 finish in the NASCAR Cup Series.

But the Hillsborough High alumnus (who sits 11th in points) still has thoughts about the IndyCar Series and its season opener in downtown St. Petersburg.

The Tampa Bay Times asked the driver of the No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford about the Grand Prix and North America’s other big racing series in Ask Aric — a periodic feature where the NASCAR playoff contender shares his thoughts on racing, the season and his hometown.

IndyCar will have its season opener this weekend with the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Did you ever seriously consider getting into open-wheel racing instead of NASCAR? Do you have any friends in the IndyCar Series, or do you at least get to follow the Grand Prix after the fact? And, of course, can you see yourself ever trying to do the double and race in the Indy 500?

The St. Pete Grand Prix is an awesome race. I’ve watched it on TV. I’ve never been able to spectate at the event, just because we’re always racing on the NASCAR circuit that same weekend. But growing up watching my grandfather (Sam Rodriguez) race open wheel out at East Bay Raceway there in Riverview, I certainly had hopes and dreams of racing open wheel. I thought I was going to race sprint cars, then the natural progression for most sprint car drivers 20 years ago was to go from sprint car racing to IndyCar. Then Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart really broke the mold for that.

Aric Almirola - seen here in a courtesy photo racing as a kid - chose NASCAR over open-wheel racing as NASCAR's popularity soared.

They raced open wheel — and Tony raced IndyCar for a short period of time — but then transitioned to NASCAR. And Jeff went from open wheel straight to NASCAR. Those guys really kind of broke the mold for open-wheel racing. Then NASCAR became so popular in the ’90s and early 2000s that that kind of really took over for all the young racers to aspire to be a NASCAR driver.

As Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart kind of made the jump and NASCAR’s popularity continued to grow and really outgrow IndyCar, that just became so attractive that NASCAR was the place that every young driver started to aspire to go to. I was in that category. I grew up loving open-wheel racing, and then transitioned to loving stock car racing and wanting to be in NASCAR.