KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Aric Almirola crashed victory lane in the NASCAR Xfinity Series playoff opener Saturday at Kansas Speedway for his second victory of the season.
Almirola, the 40-year-old former Cup driver running a limited Xfinity schedule for Joe Gibbs Racing, has six career Xfinity victories, also winning at Martinsville in April. He won three Cup races.
“It’s exactly what I set out to do when Coach (Gibbs) called me. I really didn’t have a plan. I was retiring and didn’t know what was next,” Almirola said. “Coach called, I met with him, and we talked a lot about what this could look like, and it has been so gratifying. I truly believe it was an answered prayer for me, (wife) Janice and our family.”
Almirola, Cole Custer, and Chandler Smith dueled over the final 40 laps, with Smith leading most of the way. Custer passed Smith for the top spot with 10 laps to go, and Almirola made the final pass with three laps left.
“For me, to be able to scratch the itch of driving race cars and competing at a high level, I absolutely love this,” Almirola said. “I did not want to walk away from exactly what I did today. That adrenaline rush of what I did today is irreplaceable. You can not do that anywhere else.”
Almirola won the first stage before dropping back as far as 30th due to a pit road incident and making contact with the wall. Neither deterred Almirola from continuing to run that high line that ultimately led him to victory.
“I just needed to be methodical. I was running so close to the fence; I could not overstep by one percent,” Almirola said. “Or else I would hit the fence and take myself out of contention.”
Custer was second, his first top-10 finish at Kansas Speedway. Smith was third, followed by Connor Zilisch and playoff driver Sheldon Creed.
Custer showed his frustration with Smith afterward.
“He killed us. We definitely tore our stuff up trying to get by him,” Custer said. “It made me mad when he put us in the fence on that restart, and he’s going to pay the consequence for that. I’m going to race him like he races me.”
Smith, meanwhile, was sympathetic, though unapologetic, for their extended battle for the lead.
“This is for the race win, this is for advancing to the next round. This is also a guy I’m racing for the championship, so I need to be more aggressive,” Smith said. “I wouldn’t change what I did. I was trying to give myself the best shot to win.”
Regular-season champion Justin Allgaier started the race atop the points standings. He left with his season in jeopardy after a wreck on Lap 70. He spun out exiting Turn 2, slid down the race track and hit the inside wall hard. Allgaier tried to return to the race, but a flat left front tire and loss of brakes ended his day in 36th place. It was the fourth straight race that Allgaier was involved in an accident.
“We’re not out of it by any stretch,” Allgaier said. “That’s why you work so hard in the regular season, to get all the bonus points you can. But I’ve got a long next two weeks.”