ALMIROLA NEARLY EARNS BACK-TO-BACK VICTORIES
Veteran Almirola starts his part-time run this season with three consecutive top-three finishes
LAS VEGAS (March 15, 2025) – Aric Almirola nearly followed up his Phoenix win with another victory as he closed late on race winner Justin Allgaier late in the race before coming up just short. It was Almirola’s best Las Vegas finish, as the Florida-native won stage two and led 51 laps.
Brandon Jones also had another strong run after a third-place run in Phoenix. After being forced to start from the rear due to unapproved adjustments, he drove through the field to finish sixth.
Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS)
Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Race 5 of 33 – 300 miles, 200 laps
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Justin Allgaier*
2nd, ARIC ALMIROLA
3rd, Jesse Love*
4th, Austin Hill*
5th, Sam Mayer*
6th, BRANDON JONES
15th, DEAN THOMPSON
19th, TAYLOR GRAY
38th, WILLIAM SAWALICH
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
ARIC ALMIROLA, No. 19 Young Life Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 2nd
Can you take some appreciation for that battle even though you finished second?
“Yeah, certainly. You always hate to finish second, but Justin (Allgaier) and that team was the class of the field I felt like today. We were close. They could just take off so much faster than I could. I think that was really the difference. I thought my only hope was to cycle in front of him during the green flag stop. We did, and then I just got caught up behind some lap traffic there that I misjudged. I wasn’t sure which way they were going, and he got by me. Then he just built such a big gap that I used my stuff up trying to get back to him.”
BRANDON JONES, No. 20 Menards/OSI Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 6th
Came from the back, and now you have consecutive strong finishes. How was your day?
“I was really close. I thought one more lap we definitely would have finished in the top-five. The 41 (Sam Mayer) and the 21 (Austin Hill) were bleeding pretty hard. I was like – they were getting racing pretty hard, maybe again, I can get them to use each other up and pass them. It was solid effort. It is hard to start that far in a deficit in the rear – but maybe it was a blessing, because where we would have started the chaos and mayhem happened on lap one. Who knows, but no one was out of the fight. We stayed in it really all day long. I was pretty happy there. The effort has been awesome these last couple of races – just on a whole. I think everyone is firing on all eight cylinders. Pit crew is killing it, I’ve been killing it, the crew chief (Sam McAulay) has been killing it, so we will just keep it up. We’ve got a stretch right now with some really good tracks, so we will use this momentum to continue to build on these races and try to get a win here soon with our Menards GR Supra.”
WILLIAM SAWALICH, No. 18 Soundgear Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 38th
What happened from your view?
“I think just got some air packed on my rear bumper and it took away a lot of downforce on the rear spoiler. It was just a learning opportunity – I guess. Not a lot of points coming out of today, hopefully we can catch up next week. We had a good Soundgear GR Supra in practice yesterday, so hopefully we will get it done next week.”
About Toyota
Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for nearly 70 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our more than 1,800 dealerships.
Toyota directly employs nearly 64,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of nearly 49 million cars and trucks at our 14 manufacturing plants. In spring 2025, Toyota’s plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles. With more electrified vehicles on the road than any other automaker, Toyota currently offers 31 electrified options.
For more information about Toyota, visit www.ToyotaNewsroom.com.
