Almirola wins; Temper between Custer and Chandler Smith

Aric Almirola was busy Saturday afternoon at Martinsville Speedway as the veteran driver, who is part-time for Joe Gibbs Racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series this year, took a dominant victory in the 250 National Debt Relief Race. seventh After winning his career Xfinity Series title, Almirola praised his team and the car they brought to the track Saturday.

On Friday, Almirola was upset because he felt his car was missing at lunch in training. But the team came together, made some changes and won the race.

“Wow. What an amazing race car,” Almirola exclaimed. “I’m so proud of Tyler (Allen, crew chief) and all the guys on this team. We had an amazing car in the spring and we made a few changes to it because I , to be honest, was not completely happy with it. We showed up yesterday and were terrible. I thought, “Oh no, what have we done,” and they went to work last night and came up with a lot of changes to make to the car Today. it was so catchy. He would just do whatever I wanted.”

With the win, the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing team from Almirola will advance to its fourth NASCAR Xfinity Series Owners Championship.

“Thank you, God,” Almirola said. “It’s more than just me and this race team. I’m just so lucky and fortunate to have this opportunity with so many partners – Go Bowling. I hate it – they have been my wonderful partner for such a long time.” We are so grateful to everyone at TRD, Toyota. Our GR Supra was faster today—faster than Xfinity Internet. I’m so proud of it. So, we’re so proud. We’re going to race for the owner’s championship in Phoenix.”

Overall, Almirola led 150 of the 250 laps and won Stages 1 and 2 en route to the overall victory in Saturday’s race. Almirola crossed the line 0.587 seconds ahead of JR Motorsports driver Sammy Smith, who was hoping to advance to Championship 4 with a win. As he chased Almirola in the final laps, he simply had nothing for the Tampa, Florida native.

The win marks Almirola’s third win of the season, and the 40-year-old driver has won both NASCAR Xfinity Series events at Martinsville Speedway this year.

While Almirola showed off his celebratory burnout on the front stretch of the 0.526-mile short track, tempers ran high on pit road as he finished third. Chandler Smith faced fourth place finisher Cole Custer. and even punched his competitor during a heated argument. The shot missed the target, as evidenced by the smile on Custer’s face, but Custer’s late-race move that derailed Smith’s bid for the win still hit the target.

Here’s the move Custer made on Smith, who was in second position on a late-race restart with Custer following him in the outside lane:

Custer says the move he made against Smith had to do with the way Smith raced him for victory a few weeks ago at Kansas Speedway, ironically another race won by Almirola.

“I mean, I think he’s angry, but what happens, happens,” Custer said after Saturday’s race at Martinsville. “At the end of the day, he put us in check a few times this year. He used his bumper against me, so I used my bumper against him. That’s what it is. You know, you’re going to race. You put yourself in these situations for a championship, and I don’t mind doing it to him because he did it to me.”

Although Smith beat Custer several times this year, Smith says he was disappointed because he felt he and Custer did well since Smith reached out to him with an apology after Kansas. The apology fell on deaf ears after Smith continued to hit and push Custer for five laps at Martinsville before ultimately running him off the road.

In addition, Creed also had a spot in Championship 4 that he was still in contention for, the Owners Championship. After their argument, Smith downplayed the importance of fourth place in the championship for Custer.

“He thought his win was a must for the owners – and it was – but at the end of the day, I understand his dad is a big part of SHR (Stewart-Haas Racing) so he probably appreciates it. a lot, but at the end of the day, I’m the driver. I’m in a situation where I have to win. He wasn’t there at that moment, and he didn’t even try to go into the corner. Of course, I moved him to the previous lap, but five laps before that I knocked off his bumper. I gave him grace before finally sending him, and then he doesn’t even try to give me a chance to enter the first turn. I think it was kind of a chicken (expletive) move. It is what it is.”

Custer ultimately failed to secure fourth place in the championship for his Stewart-Haas Racing team due to Almirola’s victory.

However, Custer, the reigning NASCAR Xfinity Series champion, has secured his fourth Drivers’ Championship and will compete for the title at Phoenix Raceway next weekend against AJ Allmendinger, who won at Las Vegas, and Austin Hill, who won at Homestead. , and Justin Allgaier.

After failing to win Saturday’s race, Chandler Smith was one of four NASCAR Xfinity Series playoff drivers eliminated at the conclusion of the event. Sammy Smith, Sam Mayer and Rookie of the Year contender Jesse Love were eliminated from the playoffs Saturday night in Martinsville.

The next NASCAR Xfinity Series race will be the final race of the season, the NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship Raceway at Phoenix Raceway on Saturday, November 9th. This race will be televised on The CW with coverage beginning at 7:30 pm ET. Radio coverage of the race will be provided by the Motor Racing Network (MRN) and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.