Tickets punched and punches thrown—it was Martinsville in any case, and in Saturday’s Nationwide Debt Aid 250, Aric Almirola made Martinsville Speedway his private playground.
Main 150 of 250 laps in a No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota that was the clear class of the sector, Almirola gained his second race in his second NASCAR Xfinity Sequence begin on the 0.526-mile quick observe and earned a spot for his automobile within the collection homeowners’ Championship 4.
Within the course of, Almirola denied JR Motorsports’ Sammy Smith and JGR’s Chandler Smith an opportunity to advance to the Championship 4 Race for the drivers’ title.
Pulling away after a restart on lap 235, the part-time Xfinity Sequence driver beat runner-up Sammy Smith to the end line by 0.587s, with Chandler Smith trailing in third.
With Almirola profitable the race, Justin Allgaier (fifth Saturday) and defending collection champion Cole Custer (fourth) certified for the Nov. 9 Championship 4 Race at Phoenix on factors, becoming a member of Spherical of 8 race winners AJ Allmendinger and Austin Hill.
Jesse Love (twelfth Saturday) and Sam Mayer (thirtieth) had been eradicated from the Playoffs together with the 2 Smiths, although Chandler gave a parting shot within the type of a punch to Custer, with whom he had tangled on the race observe.
A bump-and-run strikes @CSmith_Racing into second because the yellow comes out for @BrandonJonesRac.
Lower than 30 to go at @MartinsvilleSwy! #NASCARPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/Bi5iyRudHf
— NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) November 2, 2024
For Almirola, who gained at Martinsville in April in his first Xfinity try, the victory was the third of the season in 13 begins and the seventh of his profession.
“We had a tremendous automobile right here within the spring, and we made just a few tweaks to it,” mentioned Almirola, who additionally swept the primary and second phases. “I wasn’t completely proud of it, truthfully, within the spring. And we confirmed up [Friday] and we had been terrible. I used to be like ‘Oh, no, what did we do?’
“They went to work final evening and got here up with plenty of adjustments to make to the automobile, and it was so connected right now. It might simply do every little thing I wished it to. That is such a particular place. That is by far my favourite race observe. I’m simply so grateful.”
After Chandler Smith executed a bump-and run on Custer for a move on lap 220, Custer lined up behind Smith on the surface for a restart on lap 227. In a race that produced 13 cautions for 84 laps, Custer shoved Smith’s Camry towards the wall in Flip 1, maybe denying the latter an opportunity to race for the win.
After the race, Smith confronted Custer and threw a punch on the reigning champion.
“I used to be planning on doing much more than that, to be fully frank with you,” Smith mentioned. “I used to be extraordinarily [expletive] off. I gave him 5 laps earlier than that warning got here out (for Brandon Jones’ spin on lap 220). I beat his bumper off and by no means shipped him or something. The laps had been winding down, and I used to be in a must-win. The No. 20 (Almirola) began to drive away—he was actually good all day—I can’t waste any extra time with him.
“I lastly had a ok run and pushed him up the race observe and went on our approach. However I gave him an opportunity for 5 laps earlier than that. I believe he was the primary man all day that selected the surface lane from third place (for the lap 227 restart). That was very attention-grabbing, and he didn’t even give me an opportunity to make the nook once we acquired to Flip 1.”
Custer thought that made the drivers all-square, although Smith disagreed.
“Clearly he wasn’t completely happy, however what goes round comes round,” Custer mentioned. “He put us within the wall just a few instances this yr. He used the bump-and-run on me. I used the bump-and-run on him…
“I don’t understand how we’re not even. After which he punched me within the face. I couldn’t actually inform if he even punched me within the face, it was so comfortable.”
Together with Almirola, Hill and Allmendinger, Allgaier put his No. 7 Chevrolet within the Championship 4 for the homeowners’ title.
