Aric Almirola short of Richmond victory in dominating performance
Despite sweeping the first two stages and leading the most laps, Aric Almirola fell one position short of a victory Saturday in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
Leading on four occasions for 95 laps, Almirola seemed to be the car to beat in the ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond Raceway. Instead, Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Chandler Smith bested Almirola for his second win of 2024.
“I let Chandler (Smith) go and then when I started to just creep back to him,” said Almirola, who is still searching for his first win in his limited schedule. “I didn’t have anything to go with – I was too loose in, and I couldn’t get the throttle down on exit.
“Hate that – to win both stages and feel like I had the dominate car and then to let it slip away there in the end is disappointing, but it was a fun weekend this weekend in Richmond.”
Almirola’s runner-up finish is his highest in three starts so far this year (12th at Las Vegas, 31st at Phoenix).
Almirola is expected to race about half of the Xfinity Series schedule.
The 40-year-old driver is a four-time winner in the series with his most recent win coming last season at Sonoma Raceway.
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Dominic Aragon View All
Dominic Aragon is currently the editor-in-chief for The Racing Experts.
From Grants, New Mexico, USA, Aragon started watching NASCAR in 2004 and has been covering the sport since 2009. Aragon is a 2012 graduate of Grants High School and a May 2016 graduate of the University of New Mexico with a B.A. in Mass Communications & Journalism. Aragon has worked in local and national media, as a musician, and an educator. He is co-author of the 2024 book "All of It: Daytona 500 Champion Tells the Rest of the Story" with racer Geoff Bodine.
Aragon, his wife Feliz, and son Christopher currently reside in Grants, New Mexico, USA.
You can reach Dominic at daragon@theracingexperts.net.