XFINITY: Aric Almirola Emerges Victorious over Custer at Kansas
It was clear from the drop of the green flag in Saturday's NASCAR Xfinity Series Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway that Aric Almirola had a really fast car. However, misfortune continued to keep him mired in the field.
However, after rallying back from a pair of problematic pit stops, and slapping the wall on Lap 123, Almirola found himself within striking distance of the race lead in the closing laps. After a heated battle ensued between Chandler Smith and Cole Custer for the race lead, Almirola sat back, and quietly bided his time.
After his two competitors used up their tires, the cagey veteran turned up the wick, and successfully got around Custer for the race lead with four laps to go.
What a pass by @Aric_Almirola!
— NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) September 28, 2024
He's a winner at @kansasspeedway. pic.twitter.com/fFimgVfCnQ
Almirola wouldn't look back as he cruised to his second NASCAR Xfinity Series race win of the season in what was just his eighth start.
“That was a blue-collar day," Almirola said after the win. "Man, that was a really tough day. We had such a great car. This He Gets Us Toyota GR Supra was so fast. Just we kept putting ourselves behind and I felt like we just kept having bad luck. (Pit) gun breaking, things going wrong, but the car was fast. When you have a fast car, you can overcome a lot so just really proud of everybody at Joe Gibbs Racing. What a way to start the Playoffs to lock ourselves in the next round of the owner’s championship.”
The win marks the eighth overall victory for the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 all-star driver lineup car this season and it is the sixth win for Almirola in his NASCAR Xfinity Series career.
While the focus will continue to be on the NASCAR Xfinity Series drivers championship for the remainder of the season, Almirola's win officially moves the No. 20 JGR team to the Round of 8 of the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs.
As Almirola scorched the rubber from his Goodyear tires into the pavement on the frontstretch at Kansas Speedway, Custer made a b-line for Smith on pit road to voice his displeasure for how he was raced in the closing laps. After the heated discussion, Custer explained to The CW broadcast team that he was particularly peeved for a moment in the drawn out fight for the lead, where he was put into the wall by Smith.
"It really made me mad when he put us in the fence on that restart," Custer explained. "He's going to pay the consequences for that, and I'm going to race him like he races me."
Smith didn't have much sympathy for Custer in his post-race interview as he said he experienced a smiliar issue while battling someone else a week ago at Bristol.
"I definitely understand his position. Last week, I was racing behind someone for 80 laps and couldn't find a way around them because we were running in the same lane," Smith explained.
Custer and Smith are two of the 12 drivers currently vying for the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series championship.
18-year-old phenom Connor Zilisch impressed again with a fourth-place finish in the No. 88 entry for JR Motorsports, and Sheldon Creed finished the day in fifth, three spots down from his usual finishing position of second.
Custer and Smith weren't the only two Playoff contenders who were upset with each other at the conclusion of Saturday's race as Riley Herbst also had words with Austin Hill as Herbst was sent spinning by Hill at the end of Stage 2. While Herbst rebounded to finish 10th, he felt he had a car capable of a top-five finish.
Justin Allgaier, who entered the race as the top seed in the Playoffs, will exit Kansas Speedway a point outside of the Playoff cutline with two races remaining in the Round of 12. Allgaier made contact with Sheldon Creed in Turn 2 on Lap 70 of the race, which caused him to loose control of his car. As Allgaier skidded to the inside of the track, he was unable to get his car slowed up before colliding with the inside wall.
A second incident on the following restart ended the day for good for Allgaier, who would finish 36th.
His JR Motorsports teammate Sammy Smith found trouble on Lap 3 of the race. AJ Allmendinger got into the back of his No. 8 car, which sent him into the outside wall which caused major damage to the rear of his car. A few laps later, Smith would spin his car out to bring out the caution.
After limping his hampered car around the track all afternoon, Smith was able to salvage a 22nd-place finish, but leaves Kansas as the last driver on the Playoff Grid as he is now 23 points behind the cutline. After the race, Smith also had words with Allmendinger on pit road about their incident early in the race.
Here is the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff Grid with two races remaining in the Round of 12 of the Playoffs:
Rank | No. | Driver | +/- Cutline |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | 00 | Cole Custer | +41 |
2 | 81 | Chandler Smith | +36 |
3 | 21 | Austin Hill | +26 |
4 | 1 | Sam Mayer | +13 |
5 | 18 | Sheldon Creed | +10 |
6 | 97 | Shane van Gisbergen | +8 |
7 | 2 | Jesse Love | +3 |
8 | 98 | Riley Herbst | +1 |
*CUTLINE* | |||
9 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | -1 |
10 | 16 | AJ Allmendinger | -13 |
11 | 48 | Parker Kligerman | -15 |
12 | 8 | Sammy Smith | -23 |
Next up for the NASCAR Xfinity Series is the United Rentals 250 at Talladega Superspeedway, a high-speed 2.66-mile superspeedway known for massive crashes involving 10-to-20 or more cars. That race is scheduled for Saturday, October 5. The CW will carry the television coverage of that event beginning at 4 PM ET while the Motor Racing Network (MRN) and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will carry the radio call of the race.
Toby Christie is the Editor-in-Chief of Racing America. He has 15 years of experience as a motorsports journalist and has been with Racing America since 2023.