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Almirola Proves to be Las Vegas Ace in the Hole

Almirola Proves to be Las Vegas Ace in the Hole
Photo Credit to Joe Gibbs Racing via Twitter/X

NASCAR

Aric Almirola takes Xfinity Series Round of 8 Opener from Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS, Nev. – For the second time this postseason, Aric Almirola played the role of Xfinity Series upset winner. The Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota was on rails for much of Saturday night at Las Vegas. By the time the checkers fell, Almirola paced the way for 107 of 201 laps, putting the 19 out front in the desert wind. Victorious for a third time overall in 2025, Almirola punches the 19 team’s ticket to an Owner’s Title Championship 4 berth.

Almirola would beat all eight Playoff hopefuls with a Stage 1 win. Driver 19 parlayed this into a stage-sweeping evening.

Almirola would fall to third off pit road before Stage 3, losing ground to Connor Zilisch and Jesse Love. This best friends duo off-track put together a knockdown drag-out dogfight for the lead along with Almirola for much of this run. The top three were never separated by more than a few tenths. Even through a pit stop cycle, this trio couldn’t ever shake each other.

Zilisch would take the top spot away from Love just before a race-defining caution flew. Off pit road, the No. 88 left in the wrong gear. Thankfully not speeding, Zilisch retained the lead on the lap 179 restart but again was unable to drive off.

In the closing laps Zilisch’s Chevrolet broke loose, allowing Almirola to reel him back in. The 19 made the pass with nine laps left, narrowly holding on to edge Zilisch to the checkers. The No. 19 Toyota Supra will now be racing for the Owner’s Title at Phoenix Raceway in three weeks.

“First, thank you, God,” Almirola said. “This is such an unbelievable opportunity to do this with Young Life. They have watch parties all over the globe with these Young Life kids, and it’s so much fun to be a part of this. Thank you, Coach. Such an awesome honor to go race for an Owners’ Championship with J.D. Gibbs’ name on the car. The whole Gibbs family. I’m having so much fun. 
This is the time of my life man. Our car was good, our car was really good, but the longer I ran, the tighter I got. And I was just struggling on that long run in the beginning of Stage 3 and finally, that restart there, I just took off incredibly tight and I couldn’t get going. The 48 kind of slowed my momentum down. And finally, I got clear of him and was able to go chase the 88 down. He looked pretty loose, and I was able to capitalize on that.”

Second still continues Zilisch’s unreal run of top-fives, now standing at 18 strong. The 88 just beat out Justin Allgaier, Corey Day, and Nick Sanchez. The rest of the top-10 were: Jesse Love, Ryan Sieg, Taylor Gray, Sam Mayer, and Austin Hill.

Almirola’s win admittedly does not change much in the Driver’s Championship standings. Zilisch remains the top dog there clear of the cut line by 82 points. The rest of the Playoff grid can be seen below.

The ultimate wildcard race is up next for Xfinity teams—Talladega. The final superspeedway showdown of the year goes green Saturday at 4 p.m. ET on The CW, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. The United Rentals 250 has the chance to send one title hopeful to Phoenix, or end a non-Playoff driver’s season with a win.

Written by Peter Stratta

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Photo Credit to Joe Gibbs Racing via Twitter/X

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