Aric Almirola wins the dramatic NASCAR Xfinity race in Kansas

Aric Almirola, driving the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, secured victory with just three laps remaining, passing Cole Custer and earning his sixth career victory. It was an impressive comeback for Almirola, who had to pit with a punctured tire after hitting the wall early in the event.

“I’m exhausted,” smiled Almirola, who is playing part-time in the Xfinity Series after retiring from NASCAR Cup competition. “It was a long, hard day at the office. Especially for someone who was sitting on the couch. I knew we had a great Toyota GR Supra. I was able to get past everyone in the long run and just kept pushing.” It was too hard there when we had the problem on the pit lane and I hit the fence and tore off the right rear tire.

“I knew I had to make an effort afterward and go to work. We were lucky and then got the warning. We ran out of tires, so it was green until the end – and that’s when we made it. “We were really strong in the long run.

The run to the finish was set up by a caution and there were about 55 laps left when a defective tire rolled over the pit lane during green flag stops. Custer started the race again, but was under pressure from the start with Chandler Smith hot on his heels.

With 44 laps to go, Smith passed Custer and pushed him up the track. Custer stood against the wall and warned on the radio of revenge. As the drive continued, Smith’s car faded away while Custer began to speed as he ran straight into the outside wall. With 18 laps to go he finally got to the side and the two cars ended up on the frontstretch, but Smith somewhat maintained the lead.

It wasn’t until ten laps before the end that Custer finally reached the outside at the exit of Turn 4 and took the lead. Unfortunately for Custer, the fight allowed Almirola to get closer. He sent out a Joe Gibbs Racing driver but had to fend off another. Almirola was significantly faster and took the lead with an inside pass on the front straight.

Custer finished second, Smith third, Connor Zilisch fourth and Sheldon Creed fifth. Brandon Jones, Austin Hill, Shane van Gisbergen, Jesse Love and Riley Herbst rounded out the rest of the top ten.

After the race, several drivers were frustrated. Custer and Smith chatted about their touch while Herbst addressed Hill about being pulled out at the end of the second stage. There was also a lively discussion between Sammy Smith and AJ Allmendinger as these two playoff drivers met in the early rounds.

Custer warns of revenge

While the matter between Hill and Herbst appears to have been resolved, the issues between Custer and Smith appear to be far from resolved.

“We definitely burned our stuff trying to get past him [Smith]Custer said. “It really pissed me off when he cornered us in that restart. “He will face the consequences for that and I will compete against him like he competes against me.

When asked about the post-race conversation, Custer reiterated his warning: “You will pay for the consequences (of this). Everyone wants to try and talk afterward, and at the end of the day he put me in my place and he’s going to pay for it.

Looking at the playoff picture, it was a disastrous opening playoff race for Justin Allgaier, who entered as the top seed. He is one point below the finish line after having an accident mid-race and finishing in 36th place. Allmendinger is 13 points behind, Parker Kligerman is 15 points behind and Sammy Smith is 23 points behind.