Almirola gets his flag

With last week’s race at Daytona ending under red-flag conditions, first-time Sprint Cup winner Aric Almirola never got the opportunity to retrieve the checkered flag from the flag stand.

“When I got in the race car (Friday) morning, the checkered flag was sitting inside my race car. That was really cool,” Almirola said.

The flag appeared courtesy of veteran NASCAR flag man Rodney Wise, who brought the flag from Daytona to New Hampshire.