The Xfinity Series playoffs are off to a thrilling start! Regular Season Champion Cole Custer and Chandler Smith were the favorites to win. Entering the race, the championship hopefuls were eying that first spot into the round of 8. But the Joe Gibbs veteran denied them the chance in a dramatic finish.

There is something special in the #20 car put together by Joe Gibbs, with crew chief Tyler Kristian Allen. It’s taken the chequered flag eight times this season, with several part-timers on the list. John Hunter Nemechek has two wins, and Christopher Bell won twice with it, the same with Ryan Truex. And now Aric Almirola too has joined the list of twos by playing spoiler in the playoff opener.

Almirola bags the 2nd win of the season

With just 45 laps remaining, Cole Custer and Chandler Smith engaged in a thrilling battle for the lead. Smith initially got ahead but couldn’t hold on for long. By Lap 10, Custer reclaimed the top spot, only for Aric Almirola, Smith’s JGR teammate, to make his move. Almirola first passed Smith for P2 and then set his sights on Custer. In a stunning display of skill, the veteran driver overtook Custer with three laps to go, securing his second win of the season.

Aric Almirola‘s first win of the season came at Martinsville Speedway, after retiring from the Cup Series in 2023. After just leading 16 laps of the race, the #20 bagged his 6th career Xfinity win and sent JGR to the next round of the owner’s championship. Post the race, he was evidently grateful and said, “Just hats off to Seth, Ziggy, and Chance, Greg, Joey, Giggles back at the shop, everybody, all the pit crew guys they have been fast with this group. And victory lane have alluded them. I told them all week, I would love nothing more than to share a beer with you guys in victory lane and go get our picture made.”

Cole Custer was on the brink of another NASCAR victory, but Aric Almirola had other plans. Throughout the race, Chandler Smith kept Custer under pressure, posing a constant challenge. In the final laps, during a restart, Smith made contact with Custer in Turn 4, sending him into the wall and seizing the lead. Naturally, Custer wasn’t pleased with how things unfolded, especially after being so close to the win.

Post the race, Custer sounded all determined for revenge, when he said, “It really made me mad when he put us in the fence on that restart. He’s going to pay the consequences for that and I’m going to race him like he races me. … He put me in the fence and he’s going to pay for it.” Custer is in his last Xfinity season before he moves to the Cup next year for a full season with the Haas Factory team. However, the #00 wants to end on a high note and Smith standing in the way of it just ticked him off.

“We’re not in the mood to talk no I mean they’re going to pay for the consequences you know everybody wants to try and talk afterwards and um at the end of the day he put me in the fence and he’s going to pay for it there,” he added. Chandler Smith, post the race, also said that he understands Cole Custer’s frustration as he too has been in his shoes. Eventually, in their tussle, Aric Almirola came and outsmarted them both.

Aric Almirola’s NASCAR Journey

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The veteran driver’s NASCAR journey has been fraught with ups and downs since he began in 2005 with ARCA, followed by Truck Series starts in 2006. He made part-time appearances across all three series until 2012 when he secured a full-time ride with Richard Petty Motorsports in the Cup Series. However, his career took a serious turn in 2017 when he suffered a severe crash, resulting in a compression fracture of his T5 vertebra.

In 2018, he returned to the track with Stewart-Haas Racing and came close to winning a Cup Series championship, finishing the season in 5th place after failing to make the Championship 4. He then made the playoffs again in 2019, 2020, and 2021, but announced his retirement in 2022 to spend more time with his family. Despite stepping away, Almirola returned in 2023 but did not qualify for the playoffs, leading to his formal retirement from the Cup Series.

In his statement, he said, “I’d love to still scratch the itch, but just don’t want to do it like I have been doing it for the last 12 years, where it’s 38 weeks and it’s a grind.” In Aric Almirola’s 459 starts in the Cup, he managed to get 3 wins, 30 top-5s, and 96 top-10s.

However, he could not stay away from racing and came back as a part-timer for Joe Gibbs in the Xfinity Series. And has already bagged his second win. Through his ups and downs, his friends and family have always stuck with him. He even gave him a shout-out to them post his win in Kansas. “I got a really good friend of mine, George, who’s been with me through thick and thin and he lives here in Kansas City. I told him like man, you come to the race I have got a good feeling about it. Gonna celebrate with him and Janice in victory lane. Hi to the kids they are back home with my mom love you guys and we are gonna celebrate this one.”

What did you think of the first playoff race of 2024?