March 8, 2025 | By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service

Aric Almirola claims thrilling overtime Xfinity Series victory at Phoenix Raceway

AVONDALE, Ariz. — Aric Almirola made a dramatic last-lap pass in overtime to claim the win in Saturday’s GOVX 200 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Phoenix Raceway, making door-to-door contact with Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman in the final two turns. The .045-second margin of victory was the second-closest finish in the track’s history.

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’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.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series returns to competition next Saturday in the LiUNA! at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (4:30 p.m. ET on CW, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). John Hunter Nemechek is the defending race winner.



NASCAR Xfinity Series Race Number 4
Race Results for the GOVX 200 - Saturday, March 8, 2025
Phoenix Raceway - Avondale, AZ - 1. - Mile Paved

Total Race Length - 208 Laps - 208. Miles

Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Saturday, 3/8/2025 @ 07:50 PM Eastern

Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Stage 1 Pos Stage 2 Pos Pts Status Tms Laps Playoff Pts
1 8 19 Aric Almirola Younglife Toyota 208 2 2 58 Running 4 25
2 1 17 Alex Bowman(i) HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 208 1 3 0 Running 3 50
3 16 20 Brandon Jones Menards/Pelonis Toyota 208 8 4 44 Running  
4 30 39 Ryan Sieg Sci Aps Ford 208  10 34 Running  
5 14 7 Justin Allgaier BRANDT Chevrolet 208 3 1 51 Running 5 130 1
6 9 54 Taylor Gray # Operation 300 Toyota 208  8 34 Running  
7 13 41 Sam Mayer Audibel Ford 208 10 6 36 Running  
8 20 16 Christian Eckes # LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet 208   29 Running  
9 5 2 Jesse Love Samsara Chevrolet 208 9 7 34 Running  
10 7 48 Nick Sanchez # Big Machine Vodka Spiked Coolers Chevrolet 208 7  31 Running  
11 26 4 Parker Retzlaff FunkAway Chevrolet 208   26 Running  
12 15 11 Josh Williams Call811.com Chevrolet 208   25 Running  
13 6 18 William Sawalich # Soundgear Toyota 208   24 Running  
14 3 8 Sammy Smith Pilot Chevrolet 208 6 5 34 Running  
15 11 27 Jeb Burton Bommarito.com Chevrolet 208   22 Running  
16 4 88 Connor Zilisch # Roto-Rooter Chevrolet 208 4  28 Running 2 2
17 23 44 Brennan Poole Frontline Fire Protection Chevrolet 208   20 Running  
18 32 28 Kyle Sieg TAP and Sons Electric Inc. Ford 208   19 Running  
19 17 10 Daniel Dye # bproauto Chevrolet 208   18 Running  
20 21 25 Harrison Burton DEX Imaging Ford 208   17 Running  
21 19 51 Jeremy Clements Alliance Driveway Solutions Chevrolet 208   16 Running  
22 34 45 Mason Massey Mongoose Power Solutions Chevrolet 207   15 Running  
23 22 91 Josh Bilicki Chevy Accessories Chevrolet 206   14 Running  
24 18 31 Blaine Perkins easycare Chevrolet 206   13 Running  
25 33 5 Kris Wright First National Bank Corp Chevrolet 206   12 Running  
26 24 1 Carson Kvapil # Bass Pro Shops/Clarience Tech Chevrolet 206  9 13 Running 1 1
27 31 99 Matt DiBenedetto Viking Motorsports Chevrolet 205   10 Running  
28 37 53 Joey Gase NFPA Chevrolet 205   9 Running  
29 36 14 Garrett Smithley DozerWinchParts.com Chevrolet 204   8 Running  
30 29 07 Nick Leitz Warped Tour Chevrolet 204   7 Running  
31 38 35 Greg Van Alst Prescott Tire Pros Chevrolet 201   6 Running  
32 25 42 Anthony Alfredo Dude Wipes Chevrolet 193   5 Running  
33 28 71 Ryan Ellis Rolling Plains Construction Chevrolet 186   4 Running  
34 27 70 Thomas Annunziata Bayshore/Ashurst Honey Chevrolet 185   3 Running  
35 35 74 Dawson Cram Save22 Chevrolet 144   2 Accident  
36 2 00 Sheldon Creed Pit Boss Ford 64 5  7 Accident  
37 10 21 Austin Hill Bennett Transportation Chevrolet 61   1 Accident  
38 12 26 Dean Thompson # MCM Transportation Toyota 61   1 Accident  

Fastest Lap Bonus:  # lap 102 / 28.022
7                                                                    
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Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 15 Mins, 40 Secs. Average Speed: 91.99 MPH Margin of Victory: .045 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 17, 19, 7, 88, 00, 8, 48, 20, 2, 41
Stage 2 Top 10: 7, 19, 17, 20, 8, 41, 2, 54, 1, 39

Race Comments: Aric Almirola has won the GOVX 200 at Phoenix Raceway, his eighth victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Prior to the start of the race, the following vehicle(s) dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reason(s) indicated: No. 18 (Unapproved Adjustments), No. 39 (Backup Car) and No. 99 (Engine).

Failed to Qualify: None.

Caution Flags: 6 for 46 laps; Laps: 47-54 (Stage 1 Conclusion [42]); 57-61 (#42 Stopped On Pit Road [5]); 63-71 (#21, 26, 00 Incident Turn 3 [91]); 92-99 (Stage 2 Conclusion [31]); 148-154 (#74 Incident Turn 1 [28]); 198-206 (#07 Incident Turn 4 [45]).

Lead Changes: 14 among 5 drivers; 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.

(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series

Next Race: March 15, 2025 - Las Vegas Motor Speedway

NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications @ P.O. Box 2875, Daytona Beach, FL 32120-2875


NASCAR Xfinity Series Points Report
Phoenix Raceway
GOVX 200

UNOFFICIAL Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Saturday, 3/8/2025 @ 08:10 PM Eastern UNOFFICIAL

Rank Driver Car Starts GL Points Ldr Nxt Race Wins Stage Wins Playoff Pts
1. Jesse Love 2 4 -1 143 0 0 1 0 5
2. Justin Allgaier 7 4 -3 141 -2 2 0 1 1
3. Sam Mayer 41 4 -1 130 -13 11 0 0 0
4. Austin Hill 21 4 3 123 -20 7 1 4 9
5. Sammy Smith 8 4 -1 121 -22 2 0 0 0
6. Sheldon Creed 00 4 3 115 -28 6 0 0 0
7. Taylor Gray # 54 4 -1 109 -34 6 0 0 0
8. Jeb Burton 27 4 1 107 -36 2 0 0 0
9. Christian Eckes # 16 4 0 103 -40 4 0 0 0
10. Ryan Sieg 39 4 -3 102 -41 1 0 0 0
11. Aric Almirola 19 2 -16 97 -46 5 1 0 0
12. William Sawalich # 18 4 0 92 -51 5 0 0 0
13. Harrison Burton 25 4 3 90 -53 2 0 1 1
14. Connor Zilisch # 88 4 -2 89 -54 1 1 0 5
15. Josh Williams 11 4 0 89 -54 0 0 0 0
16. Nick Sanchez # 48 4 -4 86 -57 3 0 0 0
17. Carson Kvapil # 1 4 6 81 -62 5 0 0 0
18. Jeremy Clements 51 4 4 80 -63 1 0 0 0
19. Daniel Dye # 10 4 2 78 -65 2 0 0 0
20. Brandon Jones 20 4 -9 76 -67 2 0 0 0
21. Brennan Poole 44 4 -2 69 -74 7 0 0 0
22. Matt DiBenedetto 99 4 3 66 -77 3 0 0 0
23. Blaine Perkins 31 4 -1 61 -82 5 0 0 0
24. Dean Thompson # 26 4 6 60 -83 1 0 0 0
25. Josh Bilicki 91 4 0 59 -84 1 0 0 0
26. Ryan Ellis 71 4 5 58 -85 1 0 0 0
27. Leland Honeyman  2 5 50 -93 8 0 0 0
28. Joey Gase 53 3 0 47 -96 3 0 0 0
29. Anthony Alfredo 42 4 3 47 -96 0 0 0 0
30. Parker Retzlaff 4 3 -7 44 -99 3 0 0 0
31. Kyle Sieg 28 4 -7 35 -108 9 0 0 0
32. Kris Wright 5 4 -3 32 -111 3 0 0 0
33. Jordan Anderson  1 3 30 -113 2 0 0 0
34. Alex Labbe  1 3 28 -115 2 0 0 0
35. Patrick Emerling  1 3 27 -116 1 0 0 0
36. Garrett Smithley 14 3 0 27 -116 0 0 0 0
37. Caesar Bacarella  1 4 24 -119 3 0 0 0
38. Mason Massey 45 2 -6 24 -119 0 0 0 0
39. Nick Leitz 07 2 0 22 -121 2 0 0 0
40. Ryan Truex  1 6 20 -123 2 0 0 0
41. Greg Van Alst 35 2 -1 17 -126 3 0 0 0
42. Justin Bonsignore  1 2 12 -131 5 0 0 0
43. Cj Mclaughlin  1 2 12 -131 0 0 0 0
44. Austin Green  1 1 11 -132 1 0 0 0
45. Mason Maggio  1 0 6 -137 5 0 0 0
46. Carson Ware  1 0 5 -138 1 0 0 0
47. Sage Karam  1 0 5 -138 0 0 0 0
48. Thomas Annunziata 70 1 -9 3 -140 2 0 0 0
49. Dawson Cram 74 1 49 2 -141 1 0 0 0
50. Preston Pardus  1 2 1 -142 1 0 0 0
51. Baltazar Leguizam?n  1 2 1 -142 0 0 0 0
52. William Byron(i)  1 2 0 -143 1 0 1 0
53. Alex Bowman(i) 17 1 53 0 -143 0 0 1 0
54. Ross Chastain(i)  1 3 0 -143 0 0 0 0
55. Riley Herbst(i)  1 3 0 -143 0 0 0 0
56. Corey Heim(i)  1 3 0 -143 0 0 0 0
57. Carson Hocevar(i)  1 3 0 -143 0 0 0 0
58. Brad Perez  0 3 0 -143 0 0 0 0
59. Jj Yeley(i)  0 3 0 -143 0 0 0 0

-Ldr/-Nxt = Points behind Leader/Next higher, (i) Ineligible for driver points in this series