November 2, 2024 | By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service

Aric Almirola sweeps ’24 Xfinity Series races at Martinsville, Championship 4 set

MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Tickets punched and punches thrown — it was Martinsville after all, and in Saturday’s National Debt Relief 250, Aric Almirola made Martinsville Speedway his personal playground.

Leading 150 of 250 laps in a No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota that was the clear class of the field, Almirola won his second race in his second NASCAR Xfinity Series start at the 0.526-mile short track and earned a spot for his car in the series owners’ Championship 4.

In the process, Almirola denied JR Motorsports’ Sammy Smith and JGR’s Chandler Smith a chance to advance to the Championship 4 Race for the drivers’ title.

Pulling away after a restart on Lap 235, the part-time Xfinity Series driver beat runner-up Sammy Smith to the finish line by 0.587 seconds, with Chandler Smith trailing in third.

With Almirola winning the race, Justin Allgaier (fifth Saturday) and defending series champion Cole Custer (fourth) qualified for the Nov. 9 Championship 4 Race at Phoenix on points, joining Round of 8 race winners AJ Allmendinger and Austin Hill in the title bout.

Jesse Love (12th Saturday) and Sam Mayer (30th) were eliminated from the playoffs along with the two Smiths, though Chandler gave a parting shot in the form of a punch to Custer, with whom he had tangled on the race track.

For Almirola, who won at Martinsville in April in his first Xfinity attempt, the victory was the third of the season in 13 starts and the seventh of his career.

“We had an amazing car here in the spring, and we made a few tweaks to it,” said Almirola, who also swept the first and second stages. “I wasn’t totally happy with it, honestly, in the spring. And we showed up (Friday) and we were awful. I was like ‘Oh, no, what did we do?’

“They went to work last night and came up with a lot of changes to make to the car, and it was so hooked up today. It would just do everything I wanted it to. This is such a special place. This is by far my favorite race track. I’m just so thankful.”

After Chandler Smith executed a bump-and-run on Custer for a pass on Lap 220, Custer lined up behind Smith on the outside for a restart on Lap 227. In a race that produced 13 cautions for 84 laps, Custer shoved Smith’s Supra toward the wall in Turn 1, perhaps denying the latter a chance to race for the win.

After the race, Smith confronted Custer and threw a punch at the reigning champion.

“I was planning to do a lot more than that, to be completely frank with you,” Smith said. “I was extremely pissed off. I gave him five laps before that caution came out (for Brandon Jones’ spin on Lap 220). I beat his bumper off and never shipped him or anything. The laps were winding down, and I was in a must-win. The 20 (Almirola) started to drive away — he was really good all day — I can’t waste any more time with him.

“I finally had a good enough run and pushed him up the race track and went on our way. But I gave him a chance for five laps before that. I think he was the first guy all day that chose the outside lane from third place (for the Lap 227 restart). That was very interesting, and he didn’t even give me a chance to make the corner when we got to Turn 1.”

Custer thought that made the drivers all-square, though Smith disagreed.

“Obviously, he wasn’t happy, but what goes around comes around,” Custer said. “He put us in the wall a few times this year. He used the bump-and-run on me. I used the bump-and-run on him…

“I don’t know how we’re not even. And then he punched me in the face. I couldn’t really tell if he even punched me in the face, it was so soft.”

Along with Almirola, Hill and Allmendinger, Allgaier put his No. 7 Chevrolet in the Championship 4 for the owners’ title.

Allmendinger’s race ended early after completing 13 laps following a battle with Custer that sent the No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet up into the outside wall. Luckily for Allmendinger, his Oct. 19 victory at Las Vegas already solidified his spot in the Championship 4.

The 2024 Xfinity Series season will conclude next Saturday at Phoenix Raceway (7 p.m. ET, The CW, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

NOTE: Post-race inspection in the Xfinity Series garage concluded without issue, confirming Almirola as the Martinsville race winner.


NASCAR Xfinity Series Race Number 32
Race Results for the National Debt Relief 250 - Saturday, November 2, 2024
Martinsville Speedway - Martinsville, VA - 0.526 - Mile Paved

Total Race Length - 250 Laps - 131.5 Miles

Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Saturday, 11/2/2024 @ 06:54 PM Eastern

Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Stage 1 Pos Stage 2 Pos Pts Status Tms Laps Playoff Pts
1 9 20 Aric Almirola (P) He Gets Us Toyota 250 1 1 60 Running 5 150 7
2 7 8 Sammy Smith (P) Pilot Flying J Chevrolet 250 8 4 45 Running  
3 3 81 Chandler Smith (P) QuickTie Toyota 250 4 6 46 Running 2 34
4 10 00 Cole Custer (P) Haas Automation Ford 250 2 7 46 Running 1 17
5 5 7 Justin Allgaier (P) Jarrett 25 Years Chevrolet 250 3 5 46 Running  
6 8 18 Sheldon Creed Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Toyota 250 9 3 41 Running 1 13
7 2 5 Anthony Alfredo Dead On Tools Chevrolet 250   30 Running  
8 18 48 Parker Kligerman Big Machine Spiked Coolers Chevrolet 250   29 Running  
9 21 27 Jeb Burton Celsius Chevrolet 250 10  29 Running  
10 22 91 Myatt Snider Tree Top Chevrolet 250   27 Running  
11 13 98 Riley Herbst Monster Energy Ford 250 6 8 34 Running  
12 4 2 Jesse Love # (P) Whelen Chevrolet 250 5  31 Running  
13 19 44 Brennan Poole Macc Door Systems Chevrolet 250  10 25 Running  
14 6 21 Austin Hill (P) Bennett Transportation Chevrolet 250   23 Running  
15 38 28 Ryan Sieg Sci Aps Ford 250  2 31 Running 1 13
16 16 38 Matt DiBenedetto ReMA Ford 250   21 Running  
17 23 11 Josh Williams Alloy Employer Services Chevrolet 250 7  24 Running  
18 26 43 Ryan Ellis Southern Elevator Chevrolet 250   19 Running  
19 24 29 Blaine Perkins AutoParkit.com Ford 250   18 Running  
20 31 15 Dylan Lupton Lupton Excavation Ford 250   17 Running  
21 27 39 Kyle Sieg Ortho Virginia Ford 250   16 Running 1 3
22 36 53 Mason Maggio(i)  Ford 250   0 Running  
23 35 07 Patrick Emerling BBPrintingCO.com Chevrolet 250   14 Running  
24 32 50 Preston Pardus Chinchor Electric Inc. Chevrolet 250   13 Running  
25 28 92 Dawson Cram(i) Trade With The Pros Chevrolet 250   0 Running  
26 37 14 Greg Van Alst CB Fabricating Ford 250   11 Running  
27 29 51 Jeremy Clements Spartan Waste/Fox Sports 98.3 Chevrolet 249   10 Running  
28 20 97 Shane Van Gisbergen # Wendy's Chevrolet 249   9 Running  
29 14 9 Brandon Jones Menards/Dawn Dish Soap Chevrolet 234   8 DVP  
30 12 1 Sam Mayer (P) 10X Health Chevrolet 228   7 Accident  
31 17 26 Bubba Pollard SANY Toyota 223   6 Running  
32 30 45 Garrett Smithley Knight Fire Protection Chevrolet 205   5 Ignition  
33 15 19 William Sawalich(i) Starkey/Soundgear Toyota 164  9 0 Suspension  
34 34 74 Logan Bearden Mike Harmon Racing Chevrolet 162   3 Brakes  
35 25 42 Leland Honeyman # QuixRX Chevrolet 56   2 Accident  
36 1 31 Parker Retzlaff The Visual Pak Companies Chevrolet 53   1 Accident 2 20
37 33 35 Carson Ware Jacob Construction Chevrolet 44   1 Brakes  
38 11 16 AJ Allmendinger (P) Amarr Chevrolet 13   1 Accident  

Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 11 Mins, 30 Secs. Average Speed: 60 MPH Margin of Victory: 0.587 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 20, 00, 7, 81, 2, 98, 11, 8, 18, 27
Stage 2 Top 10: 20, 28, 18, 8, 7, 81, 00, 98, 19, 44

Failed to Qualify: None.

Caution Flags: 13 for 84 laps; Laps: 14-18 (#16 incident turn 3 [None]); 38-43 (#28, 91 incident turn 4 [50]); 49-53 (#29, 42 incident turn 2 [None]); 55-59 (#1, 31 incident turn 1 [None]); 62-70 (Stage 1 Conclusion [None]); 104-110 (#52 incident turn 1 [07]); 122-130 (Stage 2 Conclusion [53]); 135-140 (#5, 19 incident turn 1 [74]); 175-182 (#39, 50 incident turn 3 [07]); 184-190 (#2, 92 incident turn 3 [15]); 198-202 (#18, 11, 29 incident turn 2 [50]); 221-226 (#9, 18 incident turn 1 [50]);
229-234 (#28, 97 incident turn 4 [9]).

Lead Changes: 12 among 7 drivers; P. Retzlaff 1-17; C. Smith (P) 18-39; P. Retzlaff 40-42; C. Custer (P) 43-59; A. Almirola (P) 60-80; C. Smith (P) 81-92; A. Almirola (P) 93-105; R. Sieg 106-118; A. Almirola (P) 119-140; S. Creed 141-153; A. Almirola (P) 154-177; K. Sieg 178-180; A. Almirola (P) 181-250.

(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series

Next Race: November 9, 2024 - Phoenix Raceway

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NASCAR XFINITY SERIES FINAL FOUR

POS NO. DRIVER MFR +/-

1 21 Austin Hill Chevrolet No Points winner flag.
2 16 AJ Allmendinger Chevrolet No Points winner flag.
3 00 Cole Custer Ford No Points winner flag.
4 7 Justin Allgaier Chevrolet No Points winner flag.