NASCAR News: Almirola slams Bowman into wall to win at Phoenix

Coming to the checkered flag off the final corner in overtime, Aric Almirola slammed Hendrick Chevy driver Alex Bowman into the outside wall to claim the controversial win in Saturday’s GOVX 200 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Phoenix Raceway.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

How does the NASCAR saying go? If you can’t win fair-and-square, crash him. We saw the same dirty tactic on the final lap of Friday’s ARCA race finish – If Brent Crews couldn’t win fair-and-square, he slammed into Brenden Queen out of Turn 3 on the final lap to win.

The 0.045-second margin of victory was the second-closest finish in the track’s history.  The triumph by Almirola is the eighth of his career and his first at Phoenix, also giving Toyota its first Xfinity Series win of the 2025 season.

Almirola led 25 laps on the afternoon, but his last-lap move to the checkered flag was the only one he led in the final 50 laps of the 208-lap event. His No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota emerged from a four-wide battle for the lead on the final restart with two laps remaining, then finally overtook Bowman less than 200 feet from the finish line.

It was the eighth career NASCAR Xfinity Series victory for the 40-year-old Tampa native, who has been racing part-time for JGR after retiring from full-time NASCAR Cup Series competition two years ago.

“I just knew I needed to get from there to here first,” Almirola said, standing by his car at the start-finish line. “I knew I was going to use him up a little bit, but was trying to win the race. I feel like it was warranted. I didn’t feel like I did anything overly egregious. I just throttled up, and it was a drag race to the start-finish line.”

Bowman, who drives the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, was making his first Xfinity start of the year for the team. He started on the pole, led the first 70 laps of the race, and won the opening stage. After the race, he expressed frustration over the contact between his Chevrolet and Almirola’s Toyota.

“I would have hoped he would have given me a lane on exit,” said the Arizona native. “He just exited like I wasn’t there. He was better than us for sure, but I was just trying to capitalize on that restart and try to win the race. I got shoved into the fence, and the race car is destroyed. Bummer for that, but hats off to the HendrickCars.com crew.”

ALMIROLA BEATS BOWMAN IN AN INCREDIBLE FINISH!!! OH MY FUCKING GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!@AlwaysRaceDay pic.twitter.com/oEidPY0mEu

— Mr Matthew CFB (@MrMatthew_CFB) March 9, 2025

Almirola’s teammate Brandon Jones finished third, followed by owner-driver Ryan Sieg and reigning NASCAR Xfinity Series champion Justin Allgaier, whose No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet led a race-best 130 laps and was out front on that final overtime restart.

Allgaier, who won the second stage, was understandably disappointed in both the restart and race outcome.

He got a good jump to the green flag on the restart but was quickly swallowed up in the four-wide battle out front. The result was particularly gut-wrenching considering he was also leading late in the track’s spring race last year when he had a tire problem with only five laps remaining and instead suffered a DNF.

“I thought the 19 [Almirola] was pretty good at the end of the run, and we were pushing pace when the caution came out,” Allgaier said. “I kind of knew we were a sitting duck. They blew all the marbles off the top [of the track] right in front of us leaders, and we just picked up a ton of trash on our tires.

“Just got into [Turn] 1 and had no grip,” he said of the restart. “I’m just sad about the finish for our Brandt Chevrolet. I thought it was really, really good. I thought we had the car to beat there.

“This one is going to hurt. I feel like the last three laps of this place have hated me over the last couple years. Even though we won a championship [here] last fall, it seems like no matter what, the last few laps haven’t been our deal. We’ll go back to the drawing board. Nothing to hang our heads about.”

JGR rookie Taylor Gray, Haas Factory Team’s Sam Mayer, Kaulig Racing rookie Christian Eckes, Richard Childress Racing’s Jesse Love, and Big Machine Racing rookie Nick Sanchez rounded out the top 10.

A trio of race frontrunners was taken out on Lap 63 when Daytona season opener winner Austin Hill said he misjudged the lower wall and careened back up the racetrack, collecting Haas driver Sheldon Creed and Sam Hunt Racing’s Dean Thompson.

“I just messed up and misjudged the inside wall, and that might be the dumbest move that ever happened to me in racing,” Richard Childress Racing driver Hill said. “I feel bad for those guys. It was 100 percent my fault. Just a misjudgment on my part.”

The accident was not only a big impact on the wall for Hill but also had an impact on the championship standings, dropping him to fourth place heading into Las Vegas Motor Speedway next week.

Love holds a two-point edge over Allgaier atop the standings.

ARIC ALMIROLA, No. 19 Younglife Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing

What was the feeling with that last caution and then to come home with the win at the end?

Almirola: “Yeah, I felt like I was better than the No. 7 (Justin Allgaier). Earlier in the race, they had a great car. We had a great car. And it was just an awesome battle. And at the end there, we were running them down pretty fast, and the caution came out and I was like ‘Oh yeah! Now we have a chance!’ We went down into (turn) one (on the overtime restart) and he (Allgaier) just got loose under me and ran me into the marbles, and I was just thankful I got my tires clean coming back to (turns) three and four. That gave me an opportunity to get to the No. 17 (Alex Bowman). And yeah, we out drag-raced them to the start/finish line and it was exciting. I’m sure the fans got their money’s worth.”

How special is it to celebrate with your family again in victory lane?

Almirola: “It’s so special. I’m having so much fun! This is such a blessing.”

What does this win mean for YoungLife and in honor of J.D. Gibbs?

Almirola: “It’s special, it’s really special. This isn’t about me. This is about so many more people than just me. Just really, really proud and really thankful. Hopefully, J.D. (Gibbs, co-founder of Joe Gibbs Racing) is upstairs, smiling down on us.”

Do you race any differently if you or Alex Bowman were driving for points in this race?

Almirola: “No. He (Bowman) finished second, right? Yeah, I mean I didn’t crash him. I thought it was fair. I didn’t go in there and put him fuel-cell deep. I got him loose and got some clean air on my nose when he slid off the bottom and then just throttled up and we raced to the start/finish line. We rubbed, right? But these cars will go back to the shop, the crews will tear them down and they’ll rebuild them. I didn’t knock his front clip off, didn’t overly damage either of our cars. Just have some wheel marks on our cars and we rubbed the fence a little bit coming to the checkered. I’m not going to loosen him up and then just wait to go back to throttle and let him drive off and then just beat me to the start/finish line without trying. So yeah, I don’t think I do anything different.”

NASCAR Xfinity Series Race Results – GOVX 200

Average Speed of Race Winner:  91.99 mph.

Time of Race:  2 Hrs, 15 Mins, 40 Secs. Margin of Victory:  .045 Seconds.

Caution Flags:  6 for 46 laps.

Lead Changes:  14 among 5 drivers.

Lap Leaders:   A. Bowman(i) 1-48;C. Zilisch # 49;A. Almirola 50-71;A. Bowman(i) 72;J. Allgaier 73-81;A. Almirola 82;J. Allgaier 83-93;C. Kvapil # 94;J. Allgaier 95-143;A. Almirola 144;J. Allgaier 145-149;C. Zilisch # 150;J. Allgaier 151-206;A. Bowman(i) 207;A. Almirola 208.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  Justin Allgaier 5 times for 130 laps; Alex Bowman(i) 3 times for 50 laps; Aric Almirola 4 times for 25 laps; Connor Zilisch # 2 times for 2 laps; Carson Kvapil # 1 time for 1 lap.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 17,19,7,88,00,8,48,20,2,41

Stage #2 Top Ten: 7,19,17,20,8,41,2,54,1,39