Aric Almirola Captures Las Vegas Xfinity Win, Eyes Owner’s Championship with Gibbs
- Crystal Clay
- 8 hours ago
- 2 min read
LAS VEGAS—Aric Almirola outdueled Connor Zillisch and Jesse Love under the lights at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday night, charging back on a late run to win the Focused Health 302, his third victory of the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series season.
Driving the No. 19 Young Life Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, Almirola took the lead in the closing laps after a key late-race adjustment and held off Connor Zilisch and Justin Allgaier to secure the win. The 41-year-old veteran led both Stage 1 and Stage 2 but faced fierce pressure in the final segment.
“We were behind on adjustment. The track was changing as the sun went down,” Almirola said. “Thankfully that caution came out at the end, and we threw a pretty big change at it. It wasn’t perfect, but it was what I needed to compete.”
Almirola emphasized how meaningful it was to share the victory with his family:
“I love celebrating with my team, but it’s just different when my family’s here. At some point this will stop, but these moments with them will last forever.”
The 88 and 2 cars, both long-run threats, forced Almirola to battle back after losing ground on older tires.
“The 88 has been the class of the field this year,” Almirola said. “To run them down and pass them, that was really awesome.”
He also held off the 48 in the early laps of the final run:
“My car wasn’t where I needed it those first four or five laps. I was just trying to fend him off to have enough time to catch the 88.”
This is Almirola’s 10th career Xfinity win in 132 starts, and his first at Las Vegas. It also positions the No. 19 team to pursue the Owners’ Championship, with Almirola confirmed to run the remaining races.
“Justin (Allgaier) has been incredibly gracious,” Almirola explained. “He told me, ‘You’ve earned this. You deserve to finish it out.’ It means a lot to finish this with Coach Gibbs and this team.”
Almirola acknowledged the unexpected nature of this late-career run:
“There’s no explanation for why this is happening other than God’s hands in it. Nobody had to give me this opportunity, but Coach did. Now I get out of the race car and point people to Jesus Christ and Young Life. I’m having the time of my life.”
Looking Ahead
The victory locks Almirola and the No. 19 team into strong position for the Owner’s Championship battle at Phoenix Raceway.
“We’ve got a two-week head start to work on Phoenix,” Almirola said. “You can’t just bring the same thing back ;everybody else will be better too. But staying in the car helps me stay sharp.”