Aric Almirola edges Alex Bowman to win at Phoenix
- 12 hours ago
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 .045-second margin of victory was the second-closest Xfinity finish in the track's history.
Almirola led 25 laps on the afternoon, but his last-lap move to the checkered flag gave him his only lap 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 48 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.
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 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."
A trio of rookies -- Taylor Gray, Christian Eckes and Nick Sanchez -- finished in the top 10. Gray finished sixth, followed by Sam Mayer, Eckes, Jesse Love and Sanchez.
A trio of race frontrunners were 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.
Reuters
