Almirola Sweeps Martinsville; Xfinity Championship 4 Set

Aric Almirola celebrates with a burnout after winning Saturday at Martinsville Speedway. (Scotte Sprinkle/Race Face Digital photo)

MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Aric Almirola completed a season sweep of NASCAR Xfinity Series races at Martinsville Speedway Saturday night and gave Joe Gibbs Racing a shot at an owner’s championship in the process.

Almirola started ninth, but methodically worked his way forward and took the lead for the first time on the final lap of stage one, going on to sweep both stages en route to victory lane.

In leading five times for a race-high 150 laps, Almirola collected his seventh career Xfinity Series win and set a career-high mark with his third win of the season.

His end result was arguably never in doubt once he got to the top spot, though Almirola was hounded by both Sammy Smith and Chandler Smith in the closing laps, with both in need of a win to make the Championship 4 on the driver points side.

“What an amazing race car,” said Almirola, who paced 94 of the final 97 laps, in victory lane. “I’m so proud of Tyler (Allen, crew chief) and all of the guys on this team. We had an amazing car here in the spring, and we made a few tweaks to it because I wasn’t totally happy with it, honestly, after that race. We showed up (Friday) and we were awful … but the crew went to work and came up with a lot of changes to make to the car. It was so hooked up today. It did everything I wanted it to.

“This is such a special place and by far my favorite racetrack. I’m just so thankful to win here again,” Almirola added. “I’m thankful for Coach (Joe Gibbs), everyone at Toyota, TRD … there is so much more to it than just me and this race team. I’ve just been so lucky and blessed with this opportunity … and to go race for an owner’s championship in Phoenix is an opportunity that I’m extremely grateful to have.”

A messy afternoon for the Xfinity Series saw 13 cautions wave for a combined 84 laps, including six in the second half as drivers rooted and gouged for every position and inch of space that they could around the .526-mile, paper-clip shaped bullring.

The final caution of the race came with 23 laps left, when Shane van Gisbergen spun Ryan Sieg following a jumbled restart where playoff contender Sam Mayer suffered terminal damage in an accordion-style stack-up.

As all that was happening, Cole Custer – cross with Chandler Smith after the latter moved him out of the way for second place a few laps earlier – moved Smith into the third groove in an effort to deny him a shot at the victory. The move ultimately cost both drivers in the running order at the final yellow.

When racing resumed for good with 16 laps left, Almirola got the better launch from the low lane of the front row, but Sammy Smith stayed right in the tire tracks of the No. 20 Toyota GR Supra after restarting in second.

Lap after lap, Sammy Smith’s JR Motorsports-prepared Chevrolet dove into each corner, trying to catch Almirola in an effort to attempt a bump-and-run maneuver for the lead. And each time, Almirola’s drive off the corner was enough that Sammy Smith couldn’t get close enough to pounce.

In the end, the 20-year-old from Johnston, Iowa, fell .587-of-a-second shy of his second win in the playoffs, leaving him with a disappointing second-place finish and out of championship contention along with third-finishing Chandler Smith, rookie Jesse Love, and Mayer.

“I was just hoping to be close enough to make a move on him (Almirola),” Sammy Smith lamented. “We were just so close (on speed) that I wasn’t able to get there. It’s obviously disappointing to not be able to make it to Phoenix with a shot at the championship, but we had a good day despite being a little free toward the end.

“Frustrating, but this season has still given us a lot to build on.”

After his skirmish with Custer, Chandler Smith rebounded back to third, but that wasn’t enough to run for a title in a closing stretch where the Talking Rock, Ga., driver is racing for his career.

“This car was hooked up at the very end, but unfortunately, I was the focal point of getting shipped (into the corner) and it put us behind the eight-ball where we had a bunch of cars again,” said a frustrated Chandler Smith, who has said repeatedly he has no opportunities lined up at this point for 2025.

Custer and Allgaier closed out the top five and claimed the final two Championship 4 berths for the driver’s title – joining A.J. Allmendinger and Austin Hill, who won previously in the Round of 8 to lock up their places in the title tilt prior to Martinsville.

Despite a speeding penalty and being involved in two late yellow flags, Sheldon Creed finished sixth, followed by outside polesitter Anthony Alfredo, Parker Kligerman, Jeb Burton, and Myatt Snider.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series championship race at Arizona’s Phoenix Raceway is slated for Saturday, Nov. 9, with broadcast coverage at 7:30 p.m. ET live on The CW, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.