Almirola Denies Zilisch Xfinity Series Playoffs Win At Las Vegas

Aric Almirola isn’t racing for the Xfinity Series driver’s championship this year, but he just booked his ticket to a title bout.

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver won the Focused Health 302 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in dominant fashion on Saturday night to secure the No. 19 car a spot in the Championship 4 for owners at Phoenix.

Part-timer Almirola has been sharing the car with other drivers this season, but won three races in it, including the Bristol playoffs race, and will be finishing out the season for the team.

Almirola dominated the race by leading 107 of 201 laps and winning all three stages, but had to hold off driver’s points leader Connor Zilisch in the closing laps.

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Zilisch got in front of him late in the race, but Almirola took the lead with nine laps to go as Zilisch threw everything he had at him, getting loose several times as he took his JR Motorsports No. 88 Chevrolet beyond the limit.

“Our car was good. Our car was really good but the longer I ran the tighter I got and I was just struggling on the long run at the beginning of Stage 3 and finally on that [final] re-start I took off incredibly tight and couldn’t get going and was able to go chase the 88 down. He looked pretty loose and I was able to capitalize on that,” Almirola said after the race.

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Zilisch’s teammate Justin Allgaier finished third and the two sit atop the playoffs driver’s standings going into Talladega ahead of Jesse Love and Sam Mayer, with Brandon Jones, Sheldon Creed, Carson Kvapil and Sammy Smith below the cutline for the Championship 4.

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Full results:

1. (4)  Aric Almirola (P), Toyota, 201.
2. (2)  Connor Zilisch # (P), Chevrolet, 201.
3. (1)  Justin Allgaier (P), Chevrolet, 201.
4. (19)  Corey Day, Chevrolet, 201.
5. (5)  Nick Sanchez #, Chevrolet, 201.
6. (6)  Jesse Love (P), Chevrolet, 201.
7. (14)  Ryan Sieg, Ford, 201.
8. (8)  Taylor Gray #, Toyota, 201.
9. (16)  Sam Mayer (P), Ford, 201.
10. (12)  Austin Hill (P), Chevrolet, 201.
11. (10)  Sheldon Creed (P), Ford, 201.
12. (11)  William Sawalich #, Toyota, 201.
13. (3)  Brandon Jones (P), Toyota, 201.
14. (20)  Harrison Burton, Ford, 201.
15. (9)  Carson Kvapil # (P), Chevrolet, 201.
16. (13)  Daniel Hemric(i), Chevrolet, 201.
17. (18)  Daniel Dye #, Chevrolet, 201.
18. (7)  Christian Eckes #, Chevrolet, 201.
19. (17)  Matt DiBenedetto, Chevrolet, 201.
20. (15)  Sammy Smith (P), Chevrolet, 201.
21. (24)  Kyle Sieg, Ford, 201.
22. (26)  Trevor Bayne(i), Toyota, 201.
23. (27)  Josh Williams, Chevrolet, 201.
24. (25)  Anthony Alfredo, Chevrolet, 201.
25. (31)  Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, 201.
26. (22)  Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, 201.
27. (28)  Blaine Perkins, Chevrolet, 201.
28. (23)  Dean Thompson #, Toyota, 200.
29. (38)  Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, 200.
30. (37)  Parker Retzlaff, Chevrolet, 200.
31. (33)  Austin Green, Chevrolet, 199.
32. (36)  Garrett Smithley, Chevrolet, 199.
33. (35)  Mason Maggio, Ford, 198.
34. (34)  Nick Leitz, Chevrolet, 198.
35. (32)  Joey Gase, Chevrolet, 196.
36. (21)  Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, Transmission, 146.
37. (30)  Mason Massey, Chevrolet, Suspension, 84.
38. (29)  Thomas Annunziata, Chevrolet, Transmission, 68.