Aric Almirola Tag

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service HOMESTEAD, Fla. – An emotional Austin Hill climbed out of his No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet on the Homestead-Miami Speedway frontstretch to celebrate one of the most significant race wins of his burgeoning career – claiming the Credit One NASCAR AMEX Credit Card 300 trophy Saturday and securing one of four positions to race for a trophy in the Nov. 9 series championship finale. Hill – who also swept both of the race’s stage wins – took the lead from Stewart-Haas Racing’s Cole Custer withRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service CONCORD, N.C.—As Sam Mayer celebrated his drama-filled victory in Saturday’s Drive for the Cure 250 Presented by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of NC at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course, Parker Kligerman watched a replay of the whisker-close circumstance that knocked him out of the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs. In overtime, Mayer passed Kligerman in Turn 7 of the 2.280-mile, 17-turn circuit and pulled away to claim the victory that propelled him into the Playoffs’ Round of 8. But Mayer’s win was devastationRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service KANSAS City, Kan.— 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.Read More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor SPEEDWAY, Ind. – Ladies and gentlemen, the NASCAR Xfinity Series. The fans in attendance for Saturday’s Pennzoil 250 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway certainly got their money’s worth in the return to the famous 2.5-mile oval for the first time in three years. What looked to be Cole Custer’s race down the stretch turned into a three-car battle royale, with Custer’s Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Riley Herbst and Aric Almirola joining the fray as the laps wound down. As the laps clicked away toward the finish, Herbst chewedRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor LEBANON, Tenn. – Denny Hamlin will lead the field to green in Sunday’s Ally 400 after scoring the pole in qualifying under the baking Tennessee sun on Saturday afternoon at Nashville Superspeedway. The driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota posted the fast time of 29.859 seconds, 160.354 mph to claim the top spot over hometown hero Josh Berry as he looks to be the first non-Chevrolet driver to win on the 1.33-mile concrete oval. “Felt pretty good about it,” Hamlin said of hisRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DARLINGTON, S.C. — Justin Allgaier finally beat Murphy’s Law to the checkered flag in Saturday’s Crown Royal Purple Bag Project 200 at Darlington Raceway. This time, there were no bizarre circumstances to keep the driver of the No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet out of Victory lane, like the late cut tire that deprived Allgaier of a near-certain win at Phoenix in the fourth race of the season. After crossing the finish line 3.407 seconds ahead of runner-up Austin Hill, Allgaier had his first victoryRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service MARTINSVILLE, Va. — 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 firstRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service Chandler Smith led a Joe Gibbs Racing sweep at Richmond (Va.) Raceway Saturday afternoon cruising to a 4.495-seconds victory over teammates Aric Almirola and Tanner Gray in the ToyotaCare 250 NASCAR Xfinity Series race. It marks back-to-back wins in this race for Smith – answering his first career Xfinity Series victory last Spring – and he led the final 60 laps in the No. 81 JGR Toyota, 76 laps on the day for his third career win, second of the season. It was hisRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service  MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Ryan Blaney did what Denny Hamlin couldn’t do in Sunday’s Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway. As a result, Blaney will race for the NASCAR Cup Series championship next Sunday at Phoenix Raceway, and Hamlin exits the Playoffs after a hard-luck Round of 8. During a 168-lap green-flag run to the finish, Blaney tracked down Aric Almirola and passed him for the lead on Lap 478 of 500. Twenty-two laps later, Blaney took the checkered flag 0.899 seconds ahead of Almirola toRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service Aric Almirola announces retirement from full-time NASCAR Cup racing MARTINSVILLE, Va. – At roughly 9 o’clock on Saturday morning, readers of the “X” app got the long-awaited answer to Aric Almirola’s plans for 2024—a partial answer, at least. Almirola announced his retirement from full-time NASCAR Cup Series racing, indicating he will not be back in the No. 10 Ford at Stewart-Haas Racing next year. “After much prayer, consideration and conversations with my family, I’m ready for the next adventure,” Almirola posted, along with expressionsRead More