“I didn’t think I did anything overly egregious.” Aric Almirola nonchalantly brushed off his last-lap move during the 2025 GovX 200 race at Phoenix Raceway. When all hope seemed lost, the Xfinity Series driver persisted. He hounded Alex Bowman and nudged him into the wall to get the checkered flag. This intentional aggression raised Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s eyebrows.

The 26-time Cup Series driver co-owns the CARS Tour Series, a springboard for aspiring stock car racers. Almirola’s actions may have been thrilling for fans and broadcasters, but Dale Jr. is apprehensive of a bad influence. Simultaneously, he cannot help but think of his father.

Family pride counters Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s values

Dale Earnhardt left a golden legacy in NASCAR. Seven championships and 76 Cup Series race victories testify to this statement. But what stood out in the Intimidator’s journey was his special driving style. When Earnhardt was in his prime, his competitors gulped twice upon seeing the black No. 3 Chevrolet. That is because Earnhardt was aggressive in his finishes. These include his iconic pass-in-the-grass move when Bill Elliott sent the No. 3 sliding into the Charlotte infield in 1987. Then in 1999, Earnhardt famously dumped Terry Labonte to rocket towards the victory at Bristol Motor Speedway. All these incidents remind Dale Earnhardt Jr. of where he comes from.

In a recent Dale Jr Download episode, Dale Earnhardt Jr. declared that he is not okay with Aric Almirola’s moves in Phoenix. He harped on the bad inspiration it can create for younger racers: “Aric does this in an Xfinity race. The guys that are racing in the CARS Tour or a local racetrack or the ARCA Series…they see that and go, ‘Hey, that’s a great move! I’m gonna be that aggressive to try to get myself to win and that’s all that matters.’ And then it promotes it. And I struggle with that, ’cause I don’t want that to be every finish in the CARS Tour every week because we’re going to have a lot of disappointed and frustrated people.”

At the same time, Dale Earnhardt Jr. offered up a contradictory view. After all, he is the legendary Intimidator’s son – and growing up watching Dale Sr.‘s iconic race finishes, Dale Jr. cannot help but love the same type of aggression that Aric Almirola showed. “But I go back to the way my dad raced in 1986, ’87. I mean, he was as aggressive as any. So it’s hard for me to have any kind of a hypocritical thought about it. Because I grew up loving how aggressive guys were in the ’80s.” 

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Dale Earnhardt Jr further reflected on the old times, when racetrack conflicts were very common. Ultimately he ended up reversing his opinion on Aric Almirola’s controversial moves. “And how the short tracks were beatin’ and bangin’, pushing each other around. Every other week there was a fight in the pits and a disagreement. It’s a different time these days and we don’t necessarily want physical altercations. But it is good to see a little physical contact and a little pushing and shoving.”

Aside from his questionable last-lap move, Aric Almirola has been on fire. That is even more surprising considering the short-term plans for a new season.

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Almirola was up to speed at lightning-pace

Joe Gibbs has been extremely fortunate so far in NASCAR this season. At the Cup Series level, Christopher Bell has made his rivals’ jaws drop by winning three of the first four races. What is more, he executed a three-peat victorious streak – something unheard of in the Next-Gen era. On the Xfinity side, Aric Almirola is carrying the baton – after clinching third place at Atlanta, he immediately followed it up with a spectacular win in Phoenix. However, what is even more jaw-dropping is that Almirola had no plans for a racing season until February 2025.

Almirola stepped back from a full-time Cup Series season in 2023, hanging up his Stewart-Haas Racing firesuit. He was able to land a mentor role in JGR’s Xfinity program in 2024 when he scored three wins in 14 starts. He got to know about his 2025 job only two weeks before Daytona. Almirola reflected on this after Phoenix: “I was planning on just helping at JGR, and volunteering at church, and I got a call to go run some races. What an opportunity, and so proud of [my crew chief] Seth [Chavka] and all of the guys on this team, everybody back at Joe Gibbs Racing that are building these race cars. Just having fun. This is so awesome to get to do this with my family. Yeah, I’m just having a blast.”

Evidently, Aric Almirola is making the best of his opportunity, controversy or not. Even Dale Earnhardt Jr had to concede that his last-lap move resembled the great Intimidator.