Veteran Smith steps in for injured Almirola
Driver has 211 Cup starts, including stints as a fill-in for Stewart, Earnhardt Jr.
Regan Smith will replace injured Aric Almirola in the Richard Petty Motorsports No. 43 Ford during the Monster Energy Open on Saturday at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Almirola suffered a compression fracture in his T5 vertebra Saturday after ramming into a Danica Patrick-Joey Logano crash at Kansas Speedway. He was released from a hospital in the Kansas City, Kan., area Sunday, and the team said he probably wouldn’t need surgery.
RPM has called a news conference for Friday to provide an update on Almirola’s condition.
Smith, a onetime teammate of Almirola at now-defunct Dale Earnhardt Inc. and veteran of 211 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series starts, has been tabbed as a substitute before, notably replacing Tony Stewart at Watkins Glen International in 2014 the night after Stewart struck and killed Kevin Ward Jr. in a sprint car race. Smith had spelled Dale Earnhardt Jr. for two races in 2012 when the Hendrick Motorsports driver was diagnosed with a concussion.
Smith’s lone Cup win came at Darlington Raceway in 2011 for Furniture Row Racing. He finished third, second and fourth, respectively, as a full-time Xfinity Series driver for JR Motorsports from 2013 to 2015, collecting five wins during that span.
He currently drives in the Camping World Truck Series for Ricky Benton Racing.
The Monster Energy Open is the prelude to Saturday’s All-Star Race.
Three drivers from the Open, which has three stages, will advance to the All-Star Race later that night. Neither event is worth regular-season points, but the winner of the All-Star Race will receive $1 million.
The regular season resumes May 28 with the Coca-Cola 600 at CMS. Almirola is 23rd in points after 11 races.