After things did not work out for Aric Almirola in the Cup Series, he found himself part-timing in Xfinity. In the 7 races that he has taken part in with Joe Gibbs Racing, Almirola has won 2 of them and has been in the top 5 for five of the races. Although he has a good track record for his part-time season, he has some threats that he needs to overcome in the future.

The top 12 drivers in the playoffs are all racing hard to win the title and if Almirola wants to succeed, he needs to fend off drivers like Shane van Gisbergen, and Cole Custer. Aric Almirola has had only 7 races so far and despite that, he stands 25th in the standings. Winning two races must have put his car in the playoffs, but for him to bring glory to his team, it’s a tough road ahead.

Aric Almirola talks about his plans for the playoffs

Almirola put the No. 20 car into the playoffs and now it’s up to him to fight for a Joe Gibbs Racing title. The competition is stiff, with Cole Custer leading the charts and other drivers doing everything to take that spot from him. In the battle against full-time Xfinity Series drivers, Almirola spoke about how he plans to navigate through the postseason.

Recently, Bob Pockrass uploaded an interview with Aric Almirola on X where the two discussed the driver’s plans for the next few races. The No. 20 JGR driver must have won at Kansas, but there is more in store for the team. Pockrass spoke to Almirola and mentioned the Kansas race and how the JGR driver took advantage of 2 frontrunners battling to steal the lead from them.

Aric Almirola took pride in the position he is in, saying, “You guys don’t realize how big winning at Kansas is because the next two races are kind of wild cards, right? Like you can go to Talladega and get wrecked out early in stage one and give up a ton of points to the guys you’re racing around, and then the ropeful is always chaotic.” 

He explained how the next two races will be more unpredictable, and he had to maximize the Kansas race if he wanted to win the title for the team. The ROVAL track is quite new, and Almirola told Pockrass, “They got a whole new section from turn five onto the front straightaway; the front shot chicane is different. So that’s a little bit of a wildcard.”

But besides that, Almirola spoke about the main fear on his mind when he explained, “And going to the ROVAL, you know that you’re going to have to race AJ Allmendinger and SVG, right? So this race was really, really important.”

Winning at Kansas makes it possible for Almirola to participate in the playoffs, despite being a part-time driver. However, the title would not go to him if he won.

The situation that Aric Almirola is in

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Aric Almirola might not be in the playoffs, but the No. 20 Toyota is, and this is what Almirola will use to try and win the title for his team. Winning at Kansas has put him in the second round of the playoffs, and beating the two playoff leaders during the races is the kind of performance Almirola needs to fight for the championship.

Almirola will be racing for JGR in the No. 20 for the postseason, and his victory from Martinsville Speedway is what gives him the chance to drive for the team. There were some issues with how JGR executed the Kansas race; however, according to Almirola, “the car was fast.” It was fast enough to win the race with drivers like Chandler Smith and Cole Custer in the lead.

Judging by his performance, do you think that Aric Almirola will be able to bring a trophy for Joe Gibbs Racing? Share your thoughts in the comments below.