NASCAR
Aric Almirola Wins Again at Martinsville, Playoff Drama Pegged Behind Him
RIDGEWAY, Va. – Martinsville Speedway and Aric Almirola appear to be a recent match made in Heaven. The runner-up in last fall’s Cup race and April’s Xfinity Series winner, Almirola put on a driving clinic Saturday night. The Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 team is now Owners Championship race bound thanks to Almirola’s determined drive. Excitement did flair in Almirola’s rearview mirror as well, with a few title contenders going at it after the checkered flag.
Picking up right where he left off in April, Aric Almirola picked up the Stage 1 win by a fender over Cole Custer. Almirola went on to sweep both stages thanks to a late pass over Ryan Sieg. The Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota was trying to race their way into an Owners Points Championship 4 berth. In total, Almirola would only fail to lead 100 of Saturday’s 250 circuits in a wire-to-wire run.
“Wow, what an amazing racecar,” Almirola said. “So proud of Tyler (Allen, crew chief) and all of the guys on this team. We had an amazing car here in the spring, and we made a few tweaks to it because I wasn’t totally happy with it, honestly, in the spring. We showed up yesterday and we were awful. I was like oh, no, what did we do, and they went to work last night and came up with a lot of changes to make to the car. 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. Thankful for Coach (Joe Gibbs), everyone at Toyota, TRD. Thank you He Gets Us. Thank you, God. There is so much more to it than just me and this race team. Just so lucky and blessed with this opportunity with so many partners – Go Bowling. I hate – they’ve been such a great partner of mine for such a long time, and we haven’t got them to victory lane. Just so thankful. Thankful to everyone at TRD, Toyota. Our GR Supra was fast – faster than the Xfinity internet today. Just what an amazing race car. I’m so proud – so, so proud. We are going to go race for an owner’s championship in Phoenix.”
The drama boiled over right behind the 20 though, with desperation hitting a tipping point between a few Playoff contenders.
Cole Custer and Chandler Smith took respective turns using each other up with their bumpers across the closing laps. The No. 81 was in a must-win scenario, while Custer was trying to protect a points cushion. After exiting his car, Smith walked over to Custer and a heated discussion soon turned physical. Hear from both drivers and a few other top finishers below.
Custer and Allgaier are the final two drivers into the Championship 4. The defending champion in the 00 and longtime Xfinity veteran in the 7 join AJ Allmendinger and Austin Hill in next week’s title dance.
The Xfinity Series Championship Race goes green from Phoenix Raceway at 7:30 p.m. ET Saturday on The CW, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. Custer’s quest for back-to-back titles is the only chance of a repeat champion; the gloves are sure to come off under the desert lights for the ultimate prize.
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo Credit to David Jensen/Getty Images
