Tag: Aric Almirola

Almirola muscles by three-wide to snatch Phoenix Xfinity win

Aric Almirola made a dramatic last-lap pass in overtime to claim the win in Saturday’s GOVX 200 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Phoenix Raceway, making door-to-door contact with Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman in the final two turns. The 0.045s …

Aric Almirola made a dramatic last-lap pass in overtime to claim the win in Saturday’s GOVX 200 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Phoenix Raceway, making door-to-door contact with Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman in the final two turns. The 0.045s margin of victory was the second-closest finish in the track’s history.

Almirola led 25 laps on the afternoon, but his last-lap move to the checkered flag was the only one he led in the final 50 laps of the 208-lap event. His No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota emerged from a four-wide battle for the lead on the final restart with two laps remaining, then finally overtook Bowman less than 200 feet from the finish line.

It was the eighth career NASCAR Xfinity Series victory for the 40-year-old Tampa native, who has been racing part-time for JGR after retiring from full-time NASCAR Cup Series competition two years ago.

“I just knew I needed to get from there to here first,” Almirola said, standing by his car at the start-finish line. “I knew I was going to use him up a little bit, but was trying to win the race. I feel like it was warranted. I didn’t feel like I did anything overly egregious. I just throttled up, and it was a drag race to the start-finish line.”

Bowman, who drives the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, was making his first Xfinity start of the year for the team. He started on the pole, led the first 70 laps of the race, and won the opening stage. After the race, he expressed frustration over the contact between his Chevrolet and Almirola’s Toyota.

“I would have hoped he would have given me a lane on exit,” said the Arizona native. “He just exited like I wasn’t there. He was better than us for sure, but I was just trying to capitalize on that restart and try to win the race. I got shoved into the fence, and the race car is destroyed. Bummer for that, but hats off to the HendrickCars.com crew.”

Almirola’s teammate Brandon Jones finished third, followed by owner-driver Ryan Sieg and reigning NASCAR Xfinity Series champion Justin Allgaier, whose No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet led a race-best 130 laps and was out front on that final overtime restart.

Allgaier, who won the second stage, was understandably disappointed in both the restart and race outcome.

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He got a good jump to the green flag on the restart but was quickly swallowed up in the four-wide battle out front. The result was particularly gut-wrenching considering he was also leading late in the track’s spring race last year when he had a tire problem with only five laps remaining and instead suffered a DNF.

“I thought the No. 19 (Almirola) was pretty good at the end of the run, and we were pushing pace when the caution came out,” Allgaier said. “I kind of knew we were a sitting duck. They blew all the marbles off the top [of the track] right in front of us leaders, and we just picked up a ton of trash on our tires.

“Just got into [Turn] 1 and had no grip,” he said of the restart. “I’m just sad about the finish for our Brandt Chevrolet. I thought it was really, really good. I thought we had the car to beat there.

“This one is going to hurt. I feel like the last three laps of this place have hated me over the last couple years. Even though we won a championship [here] last fall, it seems like no matter what, the last few laps haven’t been our deal. We’ll go back to the drawing board. Nothing to hang our heads about.”

JGR rookie Taylor Gray, Haas Factory Team’s Sam Mayer, Kaulig Racing rookie Christian Eckes, Richard Childress Racing’s Jesse Love, and Big Machine Racing rookie Nick Sanchez rounded out the top 10.

A trio of race frontrunners was taken out on lap 63 when Daytona season opener winner Austin Hill said he misjudged the lower wall and careened back up the racetrack, collecting Haas driver Sheldon Creed and Sam Hunt Racing’s Dean Thompson.

“I just messed up and misjudged the inside wall, and that might be the dumbest move that ever happened to me in racing,” Richard Childress Racing driver Hill said. “I feel bad for those guys. It was 100 percent my fault. Just a misjudgment on my part.”

The accident was not only a big impact on the wall for Hill but also had an impact on the championship standings, dropping him to fourth place heading into Las Vegas Motor Speedway next week.

Love holds a two-point edge over Allgaier atop the standings.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series returns to competition next Saturday in the LiUNA! at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (4:30 p.m. ET on CW, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). John Hunter Nemechek is the defending race winner.

Almirola completes Xfinity season sweep at Martinsville

Tickets punched and punches thrown-it was Martinsville after all, and in Saturday’s National Debt Relief 250, Aric Almirola made Martinsville Speedway his personal playground. Leading 150 of 250 laps in a No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota that was the …

Tickets punched and punches thrown—it was Martinsville after all, and in Saturday’s National Debt Relief 250, Aric Almirola made Martinsville Speedway his personal playground.

Leading 150 of 250 laps in a No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota that was the clear class of the field, Almirola won his second race in his second NASCAR Xfinity Series start at the 0.526-mile short track and earned a spot for his car in the series owners’ Championship 4.

In the process, Almirola denied JR Motorsports’ Sammy Smith and JGR’s Chandler Smith a chance to advance to the Championship 4 Race for the drivers’ title.

Pulling away after a restart on lap 235, the part-time Xfinity Series driver beat runner-up Sammy Smith to the finish line by 0.587s, with Chandler Smith trailing in third.

With Almirola winning the race, Justin Allgaier (fifth Saturday) and defending series champion Cole Custer (fourth) qualified for the Nov. 9 Championship 4 Race at Phoenix on points, joining Round of 8 race winners AJ Allmendinger and Austin Hill.

Jesse Love (12th Saturday) and Sam Mayer (30th) were eliminated from the Playoffs along with the two Smiths, though Chandler gave a parting shot in the form of a punch to Custer, with whom he had tangled on the race track.

 

For Almirola, who won at Martinsville in April in his first Xfinity attempt, the victory was the third of the season in 13 starts and the seventh of his career.

“We had an amazing car here in the spring, and we made a few tweaks to it,” said Almirola, who also swept the first and second stages. “I wasn’t totally happy with it, honestly, in the spring. And we showed up [Friday] and we were awful. I was like ‘Oh, no, what did we do?’

“They went to work last night and came up with a lot of changes to make to the car, and it was so hooked up today. It would just do everything I wanted it to. This is such a special place. This is by far my favorite race track. I’m just so thankful.”

After Chandler Smith executed a bump-and run on Custer for a pass on lap 220, Custer lined up behind Smith on the outside for a restart on lap 227. In a race that produced 13 cautions for 84 laps, Custer shoved Smith’s Camry toward the wall in Turn 1, perhaps denying the latter a chance to race for the win.

After the race, Smith confronted Custer and threw a punch at the reigning champion.

“I was planning to do a lot more than that, to be completely frank with you,” Smith said. “I was extremely [expletive] off. I gave him five laps before that caution came out (for Brandon Jones’ spin on lap 220). I beat his bumper off and never shipped him or anything. The laps were winding down, and I was in a must-win. The No. 20 (Almirola) started to drive away—he was really good all day—I can’t waste any more time with him.

“I finally had a good enough run and pushed him up the race track and went on our way. But I gave him a chance for five laps before that. I think he was the first guy all day that chose the outside lane from third place (for the lap 227 restart). That was very interesting, and he didn’t even give me a chance to make the corner when we got to Turn 1.”

Custer thought that made the drivers all-square, though Smith disagreed.

“Obviously he wasn’t happy, but what goes around comes around,” Custer said. “He put us in the wall a few times this year. He used the bump-and-run on me. I used the bump-and-run on him…

“I don’t know how we’re not even. And then he punched me in the face. I couldn’t really tell if he even punched me in the face, it was so soft.”

Along with Almirola, Hill and Allmendinger, Allgaier put his No. 7 Chevrolet in the Championship 4 for the owners’ title.

RESULTS

Playoff spoiler Almirola beats Xfinity contenders to win at Kansas

Part-time NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Aric Almirola ran down Playoff leader Cole Custer in the closing laps of Saturday’s Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway and pulled away for his second victory of the season in the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing …

Part-time NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Aric Almirola ran down Playoff leader Cole Custer in the closing laps of Saturday’s Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway and pulled away for his second victory of the season in the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.

In a Round of 12 Playoff opener that ended with several unhappy drivers and a handful of post-race conversations between Playoff contenders, Almirola picked up his first win at the 1.5-mile track and the sixth of his career.

Almirola beat Custer to the finish line by 0.660s, with Chandler Smith trailing in third after raising Custer’s ire by squeezing the No. 00 Ford into the outside wall as Custer chased Smith for the lead—before Almirola made his late-race run.

 

To seal the win, Almirola had to overcome a brush with the outside wall on Lap 124 and a resulting cut tire that forced him to the pits. An opportune caution that interrupted a cycle of green flag stops on lap 145 was all Almirola needed to get back on equal footing with the other contenders.

Almirola is the fourth driver to win two races this season in the No. 20 JGR Toyota, joining Christopher Bell, John Hunter Nemechek and Ryan Truex.

“I’m wore out,” said Almirola, who passed Custer for the lead on lap 197 of 200. “That was a hard day at the office for a guy that’s been sitting on the couch. I just pushed too hard there when we had the issue on pit road (a slow stop), and I got in the fence and cut the right-rear tire down.

“Knew I had to put my head down and go to work after that. We got lucky to get the caution when we did, and we were out of tires, so the fact that it went green there to the end [for the final 49 laps]… that’s where we were strong. We were really strong on the long runs.”

After the race, Custer had a brief conversation with Smith and vowed revenge.

“Everybody wants to try and talk afterwards,” Custer said. “At the end of the day, he put me in the fence, and he’s going to pay for it.”

Smith countered that he didn’t believe Custer ever had position to his outside.

“We’re racing for the win and five extra Playoff points,” said Smith, who led 114 laps. “You’ve got a very, very valid statement, I understand, but I also wouldn’t change what I did, because I was giving myself the best shot to win.”

Non-Playoff driver Connor Zilisch finished fourth, followed by Sheldon Creed, who improved his position in the Playoff standings by four spots with his seventh top five in the last nine races.

Pole winner Brandon Jones, who didn’t make the postseason, was fifth, followed by Playoff drivers Austin Hill, Shane van Gisbergen, Jesse Love and Riley Herbst.

In another post-race conversation, Hill apologized to Herbst for lap 90 contact that sent Herbst’s Ford spinning through the infield grass at the end of the second stage. In yet another tete a tete between Playoff drivers, Sammy Smith took AJ Allmendinger to task for early contact that damaged Smith’s Chevrolet.

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Smith finished 22nd and heads to next Saturday’s Playoff race at Talladega 12th in the standings, 23 points below the cut line for the Round of 8.

Allmendinger (17th Saturday) and Parker Kligerman (12th) are 10th and 11th in the Playoff standings, 13 and 15 points below the cutoff, respectively.

The shockingly bad luck haunting top-seeded Justin Allgaier continued in force on Saturday. Racing in close quarters with Creed after a restart on lap 70, Allgaier’s No. 7 Chevrolet broke loose, slid across traffic and nosed into the inside wall on the backstretch.

After frantic repairs, Allgaier attempted to return to the race, but a cut left-front tire sent him into the outside wall and out of action in 36th place.

Allgaier’s exit came eight days after a series of accidents knocked him out of the Food City 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway and cost him the regular-season championship.

“I don’t know if I’ve had a stretch of races that have been like these last three or four weeks,” said Allgaier. “We’re not out of it by any stretch. Obviously, that’s why you do all the work to get all the bonus points you can.

“We’ve got a long road the next two weeks. I’ve got the team that can do it. We’ve just got to go have some luck on our side.”

Allgaier fell from first to ninth in the standings and trails Herbst by one point in the battle for the final berth in the Round of 8.

Custer now leads the series by five points over Chandler Smith, with Hill 15 points back. Fourth-place Sam Mayer, who ran 13th at Kansas, is 28 points behind Custer and three points ahead of Creed in fifth.

Van Gisbergen and Love are sixth and seventh in the Playoff standings, respectively eight and three points above cut line for the next round.

RESULTS

Aric Almirola returns to NASCAR after altercation with Bubba Wallace in 2024

Aric Almirola returns to NASCAR after his physical altercation with Bubba Wallace. Find out the details behind Almirola’s return in 2024!

[autotag]Aric Almirola[/autotag] hasn’t raced in NASCAR since May 11 at Darlington Raceway; however, that will change this weekend. According to the NASCAR Roster Portal, Almirola is scheduled to drive the No. 20 car for Joe Gibbs Racing in the Xfinity Series race race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has one Xfinity Series win in 2024.

Almirola was reportedly suspended for a physical interaction with Bubba Wallace in late May. The former full-time NASCAR Cup Series driver was viewed as the instigator and hasn’t raced in over two months. Now, Almirola will return to the Xfinity Series on July 20 as NASCAR takes on a return to the oval layout in Indianapolis.

Also, Joe Graf Jr. will make his first start of the 2024 Xfinity Series season, driving the No. 19 car for Joe Gibbs Racing. The NASCAR organization will look to carry the momentum of the 2024 season into Indianapolis as the track has a storied history. It will be interesting to see how many races Almirola has with Joe Gibbs Racing for the rest of 2024.

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Wallace trying to put private Almirola altercation out of his mind

Bubba Wallace did not offer details about the altercation with Aric Almirola that happened before the race at Charlotte Motor Speedway but surfaced in the media this week. “They don’t want me to get into details; keeps some people’s images good,” …

Bubba Wallace did not offer details about the altercation with Aric Almirola that happened before the race at Charlotte Motor Speedway but surfaced in the media this week.

“They don’t want me to get into details; keeps some people’s images good,” Wallace said at Nashville Superspeedway. “I think I said enough at Charlotte last year, so all in all, life is good for me. That [expletive] happened over a month ago and a lot of good has come my way, and that’s what I’m focused on.

“I’m focused on getting our stuff turned back around and off the racetrack I’m focused on my wife and baby that’s growing and growing. That’s all you can really [ask] for, so things are good for me off track. Not so much on track — that’s what we’re focusing on right now. There you go; that’s the only question you’ll get.”

Almirola was suspended internally by Joe Gibbs Racing before the Xfinity Series race at Charlotte (May 25). He was replaced by Ty Gibbs (who found out he’d be driving mid-week) and the only available information at the time was the organization saying it was a “team decision.” Almirola is expected to return to the seat at Indianapolis Motor Speedway next month.

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Joe Gibbs Racing had no report on the altercation becoming public. It was initially reported by The Athletic.

Wallace’s reference to his comments last year stemmed from the Coca-Cola 600. On pit road at Charlotte Motor Speedway during a rain delay, the two got into a heated debate about their on-track competition. It resulted in Almirola shoving Wallace.

“When you walk around with two faces, that’s what you get,” Wallace said at the time.

Joe Gibbs Racing and 23XI Racing have an alliance, including competition meetings with Toyota. Denny Hamlin, the co-owner of 23XI Racing, didn’t have much to add about the situation or detail about what happened between Wallace and Almirola.

“I don’t really have a comment on it because I wasn’t there at the time,” Hamlin said after winning the pole for the Ally 400. “I don’t know what all transpired. It’s all hearsay from my standpoint. And at 23XI, we let Joe Gibbs Racing handle it and they did what they saw fit.

“Again, I don’t know all the details because I didn’t want to get too much into the personal business and I still don’t.”

Almirola expected to return at IMS after suspension following altercation with Wallace

Aric Almirola is expected to be back behind the wheel soon for Joe Gibbs Racing after being suspended by the team for a physical altercation with Bubba Wallace. Almirola’s next Xfinity Series race with JGR is expected to be at Indianapolis Motor …

Aric Almirola is expected to be back behind the wheel soon for Joe Gibbs Racing after being suspended by the team for a physical altercation with Bubba Wallace. Almirola’s next Xfinity Series race with JGR is expected to be at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 20.

The Athletic reported the incident Thursday morning citing industry sources. Joe Gibbs Racing had no comment about the report.

Joe Gibbs Racing has an alliance with 23XI Racing, for whom Wallace is a driver. The two organizations work closely together, including competition briefings. Allegedly, the altercation happened at a meeting.

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Almirola was supposed to compete in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in late May. The altercation happened before that race weekend and he was subsequently sidelined, which raised eyebrows given the lack of information on the driver change. Ty Gibbs ended up driving the No. 20 Toyota Camry, and admitted to the media that weekend he was informed in the middle of the week that he’d be driving.

It is not the first time Almirola and Wallace have had a negative interaction. Almirola shoved Wallace during a heated discussion on pit road during a rain delay in last year’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The incident spilled over from how the two raced each other on the track.

Aric Almirola indefinitely suspended for physical altercation with Bubba Wallace

Aric Almirola has reportedly been indefinitely suspended for a physical altercation with Bubba Wallace. Plus, more details on the situation.

[autotag]Aric Almirola[/autotag] hasn’t raced for Joe Gibbs Racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series since Darlington Raceway on May 11, despite having several events on his schedule. Several rumors have been flying around social media regarding Almirola’s absence, and The Athletic’s Jordan Bianchi has now reported one of those wild stories.

According to Bianchi, Joe Gibbs Racing indefinitely suspended Aric Almirola after a physical altercation between him and [autotag]Bubba Wallace[/autotag]. The confrontation took place in a weekly competition meeting, and while the reason for the altercation was unknown, Almirola was viewed as the instigator. However, Bianchi also reported that his suspension will be lifted soon.

Almirola is expected to return for the Xfinity Series race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 20. This is a unique circumstance, as Almirola would return to the race track in three weeks. Joe Gibbs Racing has kept the physical altercation away from the media after citing it as a “team decision” to remove Almirola from the No. 20 car at Charlotte Motor Speedway in late May.

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Aric Almirola joins Hattori Racing Enterprises for Truck race at North Wilkesboro

Aric Almirola will join Hattori Racing Enterprises for the NASCAR Truck Series race at North Wilkesboro Speedway next weekend.

[autotag]Hattori Racing Enterprises[/autotag] is making its return to the NASCAR Truck Series. According to the NASCAR Roster Portal, [autotag]Aric Almirola[/autotag] will drive the No. 16 truck for Hattori Racing Enterprises in the Truck Series race at North Wilkesboro Speedway next weekend. This would be Almirola’s first Truck Series event since November 2, 2012, at Texas Motor Speedway.

The Toyota Racing driver is set to have Richard Wauters as his crew chief, which is a throwback to his last Truck Series start as he drove for Wauters Motorsports. Wauters also served as Almirola’s crew chief for the entire 2012 season, where he picked up two victories and finished second in the point standings behind Todd Bodine.

Hattori Racing Enterprises competed full-time in the Truck Series from 2017 to 2023 but has not attempted a race during the 2024 season. It’s unclear how many more starts Almirola could make with Hattori Racing Enterprises or if this is a one-off start. Either way, having more competition on the race track is good, and Almirola should bring that with Hattori Racing Enterprises.

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Almirola claims emotional Xfinity victory at Martinsville

With a dramatic victory Saturday night at Martinsville Speedway, Aric Almirola removed an asterisk from his career record and collected a $100,000 Dash 4 Cash bonus in the process. With considerable help-perhaps unintentional-from Joe Gibbs Racing …

With a dramatic victory Saturday night at Martinsville Speedway, Aric Almirola removed an asterisk from his career record and collected a $100,000 Dash 4 Cash bonus in the process.

With considerable help—perhaps unintentional—from Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Sheldon Creed after an overtime restart, Almirola grabbed the lead from Sam Mayer and won the DUDE Wipes 250 under caution when Riley Herbst, pole winner Brandon Jones and Ryan Ellis wrecked in Turn 2 on the final lap.

 

The victory was Almirola’s first since retiring from full-time NASCAR Cup Series competition and rejoining Joe Gibbs Racing this season. The record book will show that the driver of the No. 20 JGR Toyota has five NASCAR Xfinity Series wins to his credit, but Almirola has always considered his first one tainted.

In 2007, he won the pole at the Milwaukee Mile and started the race but turned the car over to Denny Hamlin, who was late in his commute from a Cup date at Sonoma Raceway. Hamlin won the race, but Almirola got credit for the victory as the driver of record.

“Man, this is so awesome,” Almirola said. “To win for Joe Gibbs Racing… I’ve had an asterisk next to a win for Coach (Joe Gibbs) for 17 years, and this is so awesome to finally put a real win banner up inside the shop at Joe Gibbs Racing.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you, Coach for calling me and giving me this opportunity to have some fun and still scratch the itch of racing but still get to spend a lot of time with our family.”

Though Almirola led 148 of 251 laps, the outcome was in doubt until he took command after the final restart. Race runner-up Sam Mayer held the lead at that point, but when Almirola’s JGR teammate Sheldon Creed took Almirola and Mayer three-wide in Turn 2 on the penultimate lap, contact slowed Mayer’s progress and allowed Almirola to break clear for the lead.

“Man, those restarts here are just ruthless,” said Mayer, who wrested the top spot from Almirola on lap 243, moments before a five-car pileup on the frontstretch caused the 10th caution of the race.

“Painful. Obviously, the No. 20 was really, really good today. It was good that I was able to keep up and be as fast as them and pass all those JGR cars there at the end and march up to the front. That’s the first time I’ve done that here…

“But at the end of the day, we needed a ‘W,’ and I got one I feel like stolen from me there a little bit.”

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Mayer’s pass on lap 243 was one of four lead changes over the final 12 laps. On lap 239, JGR’s Chandler Smith, who started from the back of the field after crashing in practice on Friday, muscled past Almirola, who returned the favor by moving his teammate into the top lane for a pass on lap 241.

“Chandler, I felt like used me up pretty good, so when I got back to him, I was going to make sure he knew it,” Almirola said. “From there the race was on. Mayer did a great job of getting to me and moving me out of the way.

“And then on that restart I knew it was going to be tough. I was really thankful to be able to hold on to it. They drilled me in the left rear, and I was able to hold on to it and get a good run off (Turn) 2.”

Smith ran third, followed by Carson Kvapil, who finished fourth in his Xfinity Series debut. Justin Allgaier came home fifth after starting from the rear. Creed, Sammy Smith, Cole Custer, Sunoco rookie Jesse Love and Josh Williams completed the top 10.

New Zealander Shane van Gisbergen was 11th in his first trip to Martinsville.

Almirola won the Dash 4 Cash bonus as the highest finisher among four eligible drivers. Since he is not competing at Texas next weekend, the four Dash 4 Cash drivers in Fort Worth are Mayer, Smith, Allgaier and Creed.

RESULTS

Aric Almirola reveals number of Xfinity Series races with Joe Gibbs Racing in 2024

Aric Almirola reveals the number of NASCAR Xfinity Series races he will run with Joe Gibbs Racing during the 2024 season.

[autotag]Aric Almirola[/autotag] announced before the conclusion of the 2023 NASCAR season that he would leave Stewart-Haas Racing. Almirola never said he would retire, which came to fruition when he signed with [autotag]Joe Gibbs Racing[/autotag]. The 39-year-old driver will compete in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and has officially said how many races he will run with Joe Gibbs Racing.

In an interview with FOX Sports’ Bob Pockrass, Almirola revealed he will run a part-time schedule of 15 to 16 races with Joe Gibbs Racing in 2024. Almirola was announced as a driver alongside Chandler Smith, Sheldon Creed, John Hunter Nemechek, Ryan Truex, Joe Graf Jr., and William Sawalich for the 2024 season.

This is an excellent opportunity for Almirola to downsize his schedule and ease his way into retirement. The former Stewart-Haas Racing driver still wants to compete, and not having the full grind of a 38-race season is the perfect opportunity. Almirola won with RSS Racing at Sonoma Raceway last season, so he is still fully capable of winning races in the Xfinity Series.

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