The NASCAR Xfinity Series is nearing its end. AJ Allmendinger’s win at Las Vegas, followed by Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Hill’s checkered flag at Homestead, has left only two spots vacant at Phoenix. Currently, Justin Allgaier is the top-seeded player in points, in third place with +35 points, and Cole Custer closely follows him in fourth with +38 points. These two are the favorites to progress. While the driver’s championship is the hot topic of discussion, equally prestigious is the owner’s championship is also up for grabs. To add to that, most of the end-of-year championship purse is based on the owner’s standings, making it quite desirable.

Currently, the owner’s standings are being led by Allgaier, thanks to his consistency throughout the season. In the second position, it is a draw between Cole Custer’s #00 car and Joe Gibbs Racing’s #20 car, which has been piloted by 5 different drivers this season. At the recent Martinsville race, Aric Almirola will be in the Joe Gibbs car as they eye their 7th owner’s championship. However, after the practice and qualifying sessions, Almirola isn’t very confident of his car being a top runner.

Aric Almirola opens up on his chances to get a back-to-back at Martinsville

The #20 car has been the winningest car of the 2024 season so far, having taken the checkered flag on 8 occasions by multiple drivers. Including John Hunter Nemechek (2), Ryan Truex (2), Christopher Bell (2), and Almirola (2). Almirola first won at Martinsville in the spring and then also took the victory lane in the spring Kansas race. The Florida native, in a dominant performance at Martinsville, led 148 laps and bagged his first win after retiring full time from the Cup Series and joining JGR this year in the Xfinity.

While Aric Almirola is JGR’s best bet to win at the upcoming Martinsville race and be a top contender for the owner’s championship, the 40-year-old is not so confident with his current car. In the race, the #20 will be starting from the 9th position. After qualifying, Almirola said, “I felt better about it coming in than I do right now. I don’t know, warmer temperatures, and the few minor tweaks we made to the car from the spring race just isn’t what we need right now. We are a little off in practice, maybe a fourth or fifth-place car in practice. Still fighting the same issues in qualifying so tight, you gotta be closer to perfect and we got some work to do. We gotta figure it out for tomorrow.”

Almirola has shown top form this season for the JGR team. In his 10 races so far, he managed six top 5s and seven top 10s with an average finish of 8.2. His consistent runs are one of the biggest reasons why the team is in contention for the owner’s championship. And even during his full Cup Seasons (2012-2023), Almirola has visited Martinsville on numerous occasions and is well versed with what a car needs to succeed there. In fact, his last Cup race on the track in 2023 ended in a P2 finish. So if the veteran is saying some things need to be fixed, you can take his word for it.

“I think our car is going to be good on the long run, that’s where it’s strong suit was in the spring, I felt like that’s where we were good in practice. But you know, the race, notoriously over the years has been caution after caution after caution it’s typically pandemonium at the end and you gotta be able to fire. Fire off and run some really good lap times for 5-10 laps and we are not capable of doing that right now. We’ll go to the drawing board and I’m sure Tyler (Allen, Crew Chief of #20) and these guys will come up with some adjustments that will wake it up. But right now it’s just a little bit off,” Almirola added.

Aric Almirola might not be contending for a driver’s championship but is fully motivated to help Joe Gibbs Racing win that coveted owner’s championship.

Aric Almirola on the owner’s championship

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Joe Gibbs Racing is the most successful team in the Xfinity Series. The team since 1997 has made 2002 race starts and has won on 214 occasions. The team has won the Xfinity Series drivers Championship on 4 occasions (2009, 2016, 2021, 2022). Currently, the only JGR driver in contention for the driver’s championship is Chandler Smith. He is currently 5th in the standings -28 points below the cutline. With just two spots left and their only driver below the cutline, things look tough for JGR to bag a 6th driver’s championship.

But they can certainly bag the owner’s championship, as Alimorla is pumped to get for the team owner Joe Gibbs, who has shown continuous faith in him. Almirola further in the conversation shared his excitement, he said, “Yes, absolutely. I mean, for me and my situation, it’s the best of all worlds, right? I’m not limelight and I don’t have to deal with a lot of the extra curriculars that go with racing for a championship, but at the same time, we are still racing for a championship on the owner’s side. A lot of prestige in that, and that’s some that coach and I talked about when I came on to Joe Gibbs Racing was going to race for an owner’s championship, and we are right in the thick of it.”

Although a top 5 finish at Martinsville should do the job for the JGR driver to progress, he wants to win his way in. “We are racing the seven and the 00 heads up on points. And everybody in the playoffs at this point is really good and capable of winning so it’s going to be interesting, we can get in on points and we can obviously get in if we win, should be the ideal way to go do it,” Almirola added.

What do you think is JGR’s chance to bag the owner’s championship? Let us know in the comments below.