With Aric Almirola badly injured and out 10-12 weeks, Richard Petty Motorsports has been looking for driver to race in the No. 43 car. After Carl Edwards declined an offer to drive the car, it appears the team has found a fill-in -- at least for this week.
NEWS: @ReganSmith to drive 43 car for @RPMotorsports in @MonsterEnergy Open Race.
Details: https://t.co/QKCB6eg642 pic.twitter.com/H6u6xgwHn8
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) May 17, 2017
SB Nation reports that Regan Smith will fill in this weekend at the All-Star Race preliminary event Saturday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Smith has served as a last-minute replacement before, and has filled in for Kyle Larson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kurt Busch, and Tony Stewart and their teams.
Almirola was hurt last weekend at the Kansas Motor Speedway, leaving Richard Petty Motorsports scrambling to find a replacement. Almirola has a compression fracture in his back, and Fox Sports, in the video below, says it could take him 10 to 12 weeks to heal.
RPM asked #CarlEdwards to drive the 43 while Aric Almirola recovers. Our report from #RaceHub >> https://t.co/JcpQT9oAJm
— Alan Cavanna (@AlanCavanna) May 15, 2017
The crash began when Joey Logano's No. 22 Ford crashed hard into Danica Patrick's No. 10 Ford. After both cars careened off the outside wall, Almirola hit Logano's car and was trapped in the wreckage for 15 minutes. He was pulled out, placed on a backboard, and airlifted to an area hospital. He has since been released.