CONCORD, N.C. — If you missed Saturday’s NASCAR Busch Series race at The Milwaukee Mile, you missed Aric Almirola’s first-career victory and the second-consecutive first-time winner in as many weeks.
More importantly, you missed a drama-filled night and a clear-cut, undeniable case of a sponsor dictating race strategy.
Much of the drama revolved around Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 20 Rockwell Automation Chevrolet. With Denny Hamlin en route from Sonoma, Calif., where the Nextel Cup Series competed this weekend, JGR teammate Aric Almirola put the No. 20 on the pole. When Hamlin arrived at the track, he was left hovering above the facility, his helicopter unable to land because of a few errant vehicles parked on the track’s helipad.
In the meantime, Almirola started the race while Hamlin found alternate transportation to the speedway. Almirola led the first 43 laps, and Hamlin stood by in the pits.
But when the yellow flag waved on lap 57, Almirola, who was running in third, was ordered into the pits for a driver change. Almirola climbed from the car and sulked toward the transporter, and he then left the track without comment while Hamlin scrambled into the No. 20.
Hamlin did what he does best, regaining the lead lap and racing to the victory. But because Almirola started the race, he was credited with the triumph.

Maybe I’ve missed something, but the last time I checked, a sponsor’s only responsibility was to foot the bill while the team made the calls on race day.

Word is that the call to switch drivers was to please officials from Milwaukee-based Rockwell Automation, the sponsor of the car.
J.D. Gibbs, president of JGR, told the media Sunday that the decision to change drivers was a “group decision” but admitted the reason they brought Hamlin to the Milwaukee event was to say “thank you to Rockwell.”
We may never know the truth behind the driver switch, but Rockwell got more than a ‘thank you’ with Hamlin’s victory.
Unfortunately, they sent a message that a sponsor’s purse strings can dictate how to operate a race team. Maybe I’ve missed something, but the last time I checked, a sponsor’s only responsibility was to foot the bill while the team made the calls on race day. Hopefully, other teams and sponsors won’t get the idea that this sort of behavior is acceptable.
Pulling Almirola also said that the sponsor and the team didn’t have faith in their driver’s ability to win the race despite earning the pole, leading the first 43 laps and running in the top five.
Nothing has changed for Almirola. There may be a notch in his triumph column, but he didn’t earn that victory — although had he been left in the car, he may have. He still has to prove he is capable of capturing a Busch Series victory on his own without the help of a “relief” driver.
Pulling Almirola was a poor decision for all parties involved. Rockwell Automation was the only real winner Saturday night, but then maybe that’s the only thing that mattered.