Aric Almirola Plays Playoff Spoiler With NASCAR Xfinity Series Bristol Win

Part-time driver Aric Almirola can’t win the Xfinity Series driver’s championship, but that doesn’t stop him from winning playoffs races.

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver won the Food City 300 on Friday night to end Connor Zilisch’s four-race winning streak and lock all of the other championship-eligible drivers from picking up a win to secure a spot in the second round at the postseason kickoff race.

Almirola was running near the front all night, but skipped pitting during a caution with fewer than 40 laps to go to move to the front for the restart. Almirola said he didn’t think he could win on new tires.

“It took me about 20 laps to get going, so I thought my best chance was to stay out on old tires,” Almirola said during his post-race interview on the CW.

Read Also: NASCAR IS ‘GETTING CLOSE’ TO A NEW PLAYOFFS FORMAT

Playoffs drivers Sam Mayer, Carson Kvapil and Sheldon Creed all gave it their best shots to get by, but he held them all off with Creed finishing in second for the 15th runner-up finish of his still-winless Xfinity Series career.

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While Almirola isn’t in contention for the driver’s championship, the No. 19 car that he’s shared with six others this year is still in the hunt for the owner’s championship, so the win meant a lot to the team.

Full Results:

1. (3)  Aric Almirola (P), Toyota, 300.

2. (10)  Sheldon Creed (P), Ford, 300.

3. (2)  Sam Mayer (P), Ford, 300.

4. (11)  Carson Kvapil # (P), Chevrolet, 300.

5. (4)  Connor Zilisch # (P), Chevrolet, 300.

6. (1)  Justin Allgaier (P), Chevrolet, 300.

7. (7)  Harrison Burton (P), Ford, 300.

8. (12)  Christian Eckes #, Chevrolet, 300.

9. (26)  Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 300.

10. (18)  Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, 300.

11. (22)  Brandon Jones (P), Toyota, 300.

12. (16)  Dean Thompson #, Toyota, 300.

13. (20)  Nick Sanchez # (P), Chevrolet, 300.

14. (5)  Taylor Gray # (P), Toyota, 300.

15. (6)  William Sawalich #, Toyota, 300.

16. (15)  Parker Retzlaff, Chevrolet, 300.

17. (17)  Corey Day, Chevrolet, 300.

18. (19)  Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, 300.

19. (21)  Austin Hill (P), Chevrolet, 300.

20. (28)  Brenden Queen(i), Chevrolet, 300.

21. (30)  Kyle Sieg, Ford, 300.

22. (27)  Anthony Alfredo, Chevrolet, 300.

23. (8)  Ryan Sieg, Ford, 299.

24. (25)  Matt DiBenedetto, Chevrolet, 299.

25. (9)  Jesse Love (P), Chevrolet, 299.

26. (31)  Daniel Dye #, Chevrolet, 299.

27. (24)  Jeffrey Earnhardt, Toyota, 299.

28. (33)  Josh Williams, Chevrolet, 298.

29. (32)  Josh Bilicki, Chevrolet, 296.

30. (34)  Logan Bearden, Chevrolet, 296.

31. (37)  Austin Green, Chevrolet, 295.

32. (23)  Leland Honeyman, Chevrolet, 294.

33. (35)  Carson Ware, Chevrolet, 288.

34. (38)  Blaine Perkins, Chevrolet, 287.

35. (36)  Joey Gase, Chevrolet, Axle, 268.

36. (13)  Stefan Parsons(i), Chevrolet, Accident, 81.

37. (14)  Sammy Smith (P), Chevrolet, Engine, 56.

38. (29)  Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, Oil Cooler, 55.