Aric Almirola carried the weight of a winless season while chasing a playoff berth that seemed implausible for a driver buried deep in the standings on a Stewart-Haas Racing program that had yet to take a checkered flag. With darkness falling at New Hampshire, Almirola saw his season suddenly come into focus. Almirola sprang to life late Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and pulled off the surprise victory, Almirola snapped a 98-race winless streak and added New Hampshire to a rain-shortened win at Daytona in 2014 and Talladega in 2018 for his third victory in 374 races.
And he’s in the playoffs.
The race was delayed nearly two hours by rain and NASCAR called it early due to darkness, leaving it eight laps shy of its scheduled conclusion.