BRISTOL, Tenn. (WJHL) — Since he’s not in the playoffs, Xfinity driver Aric Almirola was able to gamble on tires, and it paid off when he claimed the win in Friday night’s Food City 300 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff opener at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Justin Allgaier started on the pole and pushed to control the pace early, finishing first in stage one.
Series champion Connor Zilisch pulled ahead in stage two, aiming to claim his fifth consecutive victory and continue his record-breaking year into the playoffs. He was able to hold on and claim the second stage victory.
In stage three, Almirola was second to Zilisch when a caution flag flew with 36 laps remaining, and when Zilisch pulled onto pit road for fresh tires, Almirola abruptly pulled his No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota back on track at the last moment.
“It took me a while to get going on the restarts, but the long run was really our strength,” Almirola told Nexstar’s WJHL. “When the caution came out there at the end, I was like ‘man, I feel like we need to stay out on these older, warmer tires,’ I thought that was better for our car.”
Almirola then had to out-maneuver and outlast the competition – several on fresher tires – in the closing laps to claim his second victory of the season and ninth of his career.
He says that Bristol has been a bucket list win of his for a long time.
“So glad to finally win at this race track, this has been a race track that I’ve had circled on my list for a long time,” Almirola said.
While Zilisch fell short in Bristol, his chances in the playoffs are far from over. Still #1 in points, he leads Justin Allgaier in 2nd place by 32 points.
The Xfinity Series Round of 12 continues in two weeks at the Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway.
You can catch that race Saturday, Sept. 27, at 4:00 p.m. ET on The CW.