Aric Almirola rallied from nearly getting shoved into the outside wall at the start of an overtime shootout. But, he persevered and pinned Alex Bowman against the outside wall with the finish line in sight to win the GOVX 200 at Phoenix Raceway on Saturday, March 8.
The 40-year-old Almirola from Tampa, Florida, led four times for 25 of 208 over-scheduled laps. He qualified in eighth place and motored his way to the front with a fast No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Supra entry. Ultimately, he spent nearly the entire event racing at the front, where he primarily dueled with the reigning Xfinity Series champion Justin Allgaier and the pole-sitter Alex Bowman for the lead.
After settling in the runner-up spot following both of the event’s stage break periods and rallying from a late slow pit service that dropped him outside the top-five mark, Almirola was initially poised for a runner-up finish behind Allgaier when an opportunity struck as a late-race incident involving Nick Leitz sent the event into overtime.
During the event’s lone overtime attempt, Almirola dueled with Allgaier entering the first turn until the latter slipped up the track and made contact with the former. Despite nearly getting pinned into the outside wall, Almirola muscled into second place behind Bowman while Allgaier briefly lost his momentum and lost ground from his dominant lead. Then after spending the first two turns and the backstretch trying to narrow the gap back to Bowman on the final lap, Almirola made a move beneath Bowman through Turns 3 and 4. Amid getting sideways, Almirola then rubbed and pinned Bowman against the outside wall to stall the latter’s momentum. As a result, Almirola motored back ahead to claim the checkered flag first by a fender and capture his first NASCAR Xfinity Series victory of the 2025 season.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Alex Bowman secured the pole position with a pole-winning lap at 131.984 mph in 27.276 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Sheldon Creed, the latter of whom clocked in his best qualifying lap at 131.584 mph in 27.359 seconds.
Prior to the event, rookie William Sawalich dropped to the rear of the field due to an unapproved adjustment involving a fuel pump change made to his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota entry. Ryan Sieg and Matt DiBenedetto also dropped to the rear of the field due to a backup car and engine change, respectively.
When the green flag waved and the event commenced, the field fanned out through the frontstretch’s dogleg as Alex Bowman muscled ahead with the lead through the first two turns. Behind, Sheldon Creed used the outside lane to barely retain second place as rookie Taylor Gray used the apron through the first two turns to muscle his way up to a tight four-car race for third place. Through the backstretch, Sammy Smith briefly got loose, but he kept his car racing straight despite getting pinned in three-wide action. As Zilisch, Gray, Aric Almirola and Jesse Love all moved up into the top six while overtaking Smith through the backstretch, Bowman proceeded to lead the first lap in his No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro entry.
Over the next four laps and amid a series of on-track actions and jostling for positions, Bowman retained a reasonable advantage over Creed as Gray, Almirola and Sammy Smith followed suit in the top five. Behind, Zilisch was in sixth place ahead of teammate Justin Allgaier, Love, rookie Nick Sanchez and Sam Mayer while Austin Hill, rookie Dean Thompson, Brandon Jones, rookie Daniel Dye and Jeb Burton followed suit in the top 15.
Just past the first 10-scheduled laps, Bowman stretched his early advantage to more than a second over Almirola while third-place Creed trailed by more than two seconds. Meanwhile, Allgaier charged his way up to fourth place in front of teammate Sammy Smith as teammate Zilisch, Love, Gray, Sanchez and Jones were in the top 10. Amid the actions at the front, William Sawalich, who started at the rear of the field, was up to 21st place behind rookie Carson Kvapil while rookie Christian Eckes was also mired in the top-20 mark.
Through the first 20 laps, Bowman added another second to his advantage as he was now leading by more than two seconds over Almirola. By then, Allgaier had overtaken Creed for third place, where he trailed the lead by four seconds, while Zilisch had also overtaken teammate Sammy Smith for fifth place. As Bowman proceeded to lead the Lap 25 mark, Gray had fallen back to 11th place behind Mayer while Love was trailing Zilisch and Sammy Smith in seventh place. In addition, Austin Hill was in 12th place while Sawalich was in 17th place in front of Kvapil.
At the Lap 30 mark, Bowman stabilized his lead to more than two seconds over Almirola as Allgaier, Creed and Zilisch continued to follow suit in the top five. Bowman would proceed to lead through Laps 35 and 40 as Sammy Smith, Sanchez, Love, Jones and Mayer trailed in the top 10.
When the first stage period concluded on Lap 45, Bowman captured his first Xfinity stage victory of the 2025 season. Almirola followed suit in second place ahead of Allgaier, Zilisch and Creed while Sammy Smith, Sanchez, Brandon Jones, Love and Mayer were scored in the top 10, respectively.
Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Bowman pitted for a first round of pit service. Following the pit stops, Almirola, who opted for a two-tire pit service, exited pit road ahead of Bowman, Jones, Creed, Allgaier, Sammy Smith, Sanchez, Love, Austin Hill and Gray. Amid the pit stops, Zilisch endured a slow pit service after he both overshot and hit the pit wall on the driver’s left side while trying to enter his pit box.
The second stage period started on Lap 54 as Almirola and Bowman occupied the front row. At the front, the field fanned out through the frontstretch’s dogleg as Almirola and Bowman dueled for the lead in front of a three-wide action that involved Jones, Creed and Sammy Smith. Almirola would then use the apron through the first two turns to muscle his No. 19 Younglife Toyota Supra entry ahead and clear Bowman entering the backstretch as Allgaier squeezed in between Creed and Jones to move up the leaderboard and into the top five. With the field fanning out, Almirola led the following lap as both Allgaier and Jones pursued Bowman for second place.
Not long after, the caution returned when Anthony Alfredo, who had pitted and was trying to roll his No. 42 Dude Wipes Chevrolet Camaro entry through pit road, came to a full stop towards the exit of pit road due to an axle issue. As Alfredo’s entry was taken to the garage, some including rookie Daniel Dye, Parker Retzlaff and Mason Massey pitted while the rest led by Almirola remained on the track.
The start of the ensuing restart on Lap 61 featured Almirola launching ahead of Bowman and the field from the inside lane. As the field used the dogleg, Almirola retained the lead through the first two turns as Bowman, Jones and Sammy Smith went three-wide for the runner-up spot in front of Allgaier. Bowman would use the outside lane through the backstretch to muscle ahead back into second as Allgaier quickly followed suit in third place.
Then as Jones was getting pinned in between Mayer and Sammy Smith for fourth place, trouble ensued behind them as Hill bounced off the inside wall exiting the backstretch, veered back across the track and clipped Creed. Both Creed and Hill would then spin and hit the outside wall in Turn 3 as Hill got rammed head-on by rookie Dean Thompson. The carnage knocked the trio of Creed, Hill and Thompson out from further contention of the event.
When the event restarted under green on Lap 71, Almirola was pinned in between teammate Jones and Bowman in their bids for the lead through the dogleg. As Jones back out of the gas entering the first two turns, Almirola would duel with Bowman through the turns and the backstretch. As Almirola continued to duel with Bowman through Turns 3 and 4, he got close alongside Bowman and got loose, which allowed Bowman to muscle ahead and lead the next lap. This also allowed Allgaier to navigate his way into the runner-up spot before he rocketed past Bowman from the outside lane through the first two turns to assume the lead.
Despite Allgaier leading Lap 73, Almirola fought back and drew even with Allgaier entering the first two turns and back through the backstretch. As Bowman fended off Jones and Sammy Smith for third place, Allgaier would proceed to clear Almirola through the backstretch and prior to the Lap 75 mark. Almirola, however, would fight back in a side-by-side battle on Lap 77, but Allgaier would fend off Almirola’s challenge during the following lap. This also allowed Bowman to draw himself back into the picture as he gained ground on the two leaders.
On Lap 80, Allgaier was placed on extensive defense mode as he was trying to fend off both Almirola and Bowman with the lead. Meanwhile, Brandon Jones joined the battle while Sammy Smith trailed in fifth place by more than a second. As the on-track battles at the front continued, Almirola would muscle back ahead of Allgaier to reassume the lead on Lap 82. Allgaier would then pull off a crossover move beneath Almirola through the backstretch and back to the frontstretch as he reassumed the lead on Lap 83. With Almirola giving chase, Allgaier maintained the lead in his No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro entry by within two-tenths of a second on Lap 85.
When the second stage period concluded on Lap 90, Allgaier fended off Almirola to capture his first Xfinity stage victory of the 2025 season. Almirola, who got mired in lapped traffic in the closing laps, settled in second and he was followed by Bowman, Jones and Sammy Smith while Mayer, Love, Gray, Carson Kvapil and Ryan Sieg were scored in the top 10, respectively.
During the stage break, the lead lap field led by Allgaier returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Allgaier retained the lead as he exited pit road first ahead of Jones, Bowman, Almirola, Sammy Smith, Gray, Zilisch, Love, Mayer and Ryan Sieg, respectively. Amid the pit stops, a trio of names that included Mayer, Sawalich and Kris Wright were penalized for speeding on pit road.
With 101 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Allgaier and Jones occupied the front row. At the start, Allgaier, who restarted on the inside lane, rocketed away from the field and he would maintain a reasonable advantage entering the first two turns. Behind Allgaier, Bowman slipped out of the top-five mark after he went up the track in Turns 1 and 2. Meanwhile, Jones battled teammate Almirola for the runner-up spot while teammate Gray and Sammy Smith followed suit. Amid the battles, Allgaier led the following lap.
Down to the final 98 laps of the event, Allgaier was leading by half a second over Almirola as Jones, Gray, Sammy Smith and Bowman followed suit in the top six, respectively. Behind, Sanchez, Love and Zilisch battled fiercely for seventh place in front of Kvapil as Ryan Sieg, Christian Eckes, Parker Retzlaff, Daniel Dye and Jeb Burton were racing in the top 15.
With 85 laps remaining, Allgaier retained the lead by six-tenths of a second over Almirola while Jones, Bowman and Gray pursued by within five seconds in the top five. Meanwhile, Sammy Smith was back in sixth place while Love, Sanchez and Zilisch were scored in the top 10.
Fifteen laps later, Allgaier extended his advantage to nine-tenths of a second over Almirola while Jones trailed in third place by nearly four seconds. By then, Bowman followed suit in fourth place by more than six seconds while fifth-place Sammy Smith trailed by nine seconds. Over the ensuing laps, a heated battle for 12th place ensued between Eckes, Mayer, Retzlaff and Kvapil as Allgaier continued to lead by seven-tenths of a second over Almirola with 65 laps remaining.
Then with 59 laps remaining, the battle for the lead started to ignite as Almirola attempted to make a move to Allgaier’s right side through the first two turns. Allgaier would fend off the challenge and lead the following lap before Almirola then tried to draw even with Allgaier entering the backstretch. Both competitors would duel through the frontstretch with 57 laps remaining as Almirola managed to muscle ahead through the first two turns and the backstretch. Despite leading the next lap, Allgaier would muscle past both Almirola and the lapped competitor of Kyle Sieg entering the first two turns as he reassumed the lead with 55 laps remaining.
Then a lap later, the caution flew when Dawson Cram, who made contact with Sammy Smith entering Turn 3, blew a right-rear tire and collided against the Turn 1 outside wall. Despite sustaining right-rear damage to his No. 8 Pilot Flying J Chevrolet Camaro entry, Sammy Smith managed to continue on the track in fifth place.
During the caution period, Allgaier led the front-runners to pit road. Following the pit stops, Allgaier retained the lead after he exited pit road first ahead of Bowman, Jones, Gray, Love and Sanchez while Almirola, who entered pit road in second place, exited in seventh place due to a slow pit service.
As the race restarted under green with 46 laps remaining, Allgaier rocketed away from the lead from the inside lane and he would retain the top spot through the first two turns as Bowman, Jones, Gray and Almirola battled for the runner-up spot. Then entering Turn 3, Jones, who was in third place, made contact with teammate Almirola that sent Jones’ No. 20 Menards Toyota Supra entry going wide. This resulted with Almirola and Gray going three-wide on Jones for third place as Allgaier fended off Bowman to lead the following lap.
With less than 40 laps remaining, Allgaier fended off Bowman and led the latter by two-tenths of a second while Almirola, who carved his way back up to third place, trailed by six-tenths of a second. Allgaier would slightly extend his advantage to seven-tenths of a second over Bowman with 35 laps remaining as Almirola trailed in third place by more than a second. Meanwhile, Gray and Jones were racing in the top five while Love, Ryan Sieg, Sanchez, Sawalich and Mayer were mired in the top 10.
Down to the final 30 laps of the event, Allgaier was leading by more than a second over both Bowman and Almirola as Jones and Gray trailed by within four seconds in the top five. As Love started to intimidate Gray for fifth place, Eckes fiercely battled Harrison Burton and Sammy Smith for 13th place as Allgaier maintained the lead by more than a second over both Bowman and Almirola with 20 laps remaining.
With 17 laps remaining, a tight battle for the runner-up spot ensued between Almirola and Bowman as Almirola, who was unable to clear Bowman a lap prior, was able to use the outside lane to muscle ahead with the spot. Bowman would then try to make a crossover move on Almirola to regain the spot, but he would fall short as Almirola ignited his late charge on Allgaier for the lead. By then, however, Allgaier’s advantage grew to more than two seconds with 15 laps remaining.
As the event reached its final 10-lap mark, Allgaier, who was posting fast lap times, continued to lead by nearly two seconds over Almirola while third-place Bowman trailed by more than three seconds. Two laps later, teammate Carson Kvapil limed his No. 1 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro entry to pit road due to a mechanical issue, but the event remained under green as Allgaier, who was navigating his way through lapped traffic, maintained a stable lead over Almirola.
Then with four laps remaining, the caution flew when Nick Leitz slipped sideways and collided against the outside wall just shy of the start/finish line after he lost a right-rear tire. The caution erased Allgaier’s one-second advantage over Almirola as the latter was driving as hard as he could to narrow the deficit between himself and the leader. Leitz’s incident also sent the event into overtime.
Prior to overtime, some including Kvapil, Eckes, Josh Williams, Brennan Poole, Jeremy Clements and Kyle Sieg pitted while the front-runners led by Allgaier remained on the track.
The start of the first overtime attempt featured the field diving through the frontstretch’s dogleg as both Allgaier and Almirola dueled for the lead. Then in Turn 1, Allgaier, who was racing alongside Almirola in tight-quarters racing, rubbed fenders with Almirola, which resulted with both slipping towards the outside wall as Bowman threaded himself in between both and Jones to storm into the lead entering the backstretch. Amid the action, Bowman led Almirola and Jones exiting the backstretch while Allgaier dropped to fourth place.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Bowman retained a steady lead over Almirola despite the latter gaining massive ground through the frontstretch. Almirola would then almost get beneath Bowman through the first two turns, but the latter fended off the challenge to lead through the backstretch. Then entering Turn 3, Almirola made his move beneath Bowman, who went wide, as both dueled through Turns 3 and 4. As Bowman started to gain a momentum from the outside lane approaching the finish line, Almirola, who got sideways, rubbed and pinned Bowman into the outside wall to stall his momentum. This allowed Almirola to storm back ahead as he claimed both the checkered flag and the victory by 0.045 seconds over Bowman.
With the victory, Almirola recorded his eighth career win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series division, his first at Phoenix, his first since winning at Martinsville Speedway in November 2024 and his fourth since returning to Joe Gibbs Racing as a part-time competitor at the start of the 2024 season. Almirola’s Phoenix victory was also the first of the 2025 series campaign for both Joe Gibbs Racing and the Toyota nameplate. It was also the second for crew chief Seth Chavka and the first for Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 19 entry since Denny Hamlin won at Darlington Raceway in September 2023.
*Today’s spring Xfinity event marked the second consecutive race where an Xfinity event at the desert state featured a final-lap pass for the race victory after Riley Herbst overtook the champion Justin Allgaier on the final lap to win at Phoenix this past November.
“I just knew I needed to get from [Turn 3] to [the finish line] first,” Almirola said on the frontstretch on the CW Network. He went on to say, “I knew I was gonna use [Bowman] up a little bit, but [I’m] trying to win the race. I feel like [the move] was warranted. He added, “I didn’t think I did anything overly egregious. I just throttled up and I knew it was gonna be a drag race to the start/finish line.
“Just so proud of all the guys on this team. Thank you so much to Coach [Joe Gibbs] and what a blessing this is. It is so much fun to come and drive these race cars. Every single time I get in, I feel like I got an opportunity to win. I didn’t know what I was doing two weeks before Daytona. I was planning on just helping at [Joe Gibbs Racing] and volunteering at church, and I got a phone call to come run some races.
“What an opportunity. So proud of Seth and all the guys on this team, everybody back at Joe Gibbs Racing that’s building these race cars. [I’m] Just having fun. This is so awesome to get to do this with my family. I’m just having a blast.”
After being edged by 0.045 seconds to Almirola, Bowman, who was left with a damaged race car at the event’s conclusion, wasted no time pulling alongside Almirola to express his displeasure. Overall, Bowman, who led 50 laps compared to Almirola’s 25, recorded his second runner-up result of his Xfinity career as this marked his lone series’ start in 2025.
“I would’ve hoped that [Almirola] would’ve given me a lane on exit [into Turn 4], but he just exited like I wasn’t there,” Bowman said. “[Almirola] was better than us, for sure, but [I] just tried to capitalize on that restart, trying to win the race and got shoved in the fence.
“The race car’s destroyed…I don’t know if [Almirola] had me aero-loose going into [Turn] 1 or if I just got loose myself, but I about spun out back there and figured my best bet was going to the outside there, trying to get off the corner and yeah, there was no lane there anymore. Bummer, but you’ll have that in big-time auto racing.”
Perhaps, there was no competitor more disappointed like Bowman than Justin Allgaier. Overall, Allgaier led a race-high 130 laps and won the second stage period. Following his slip-up during the overtime shootout, however, he settled in fifth place. Amid the disappointment, the reigning Xfinity Series champion took away the positives from a strong on-track performance as he looks ahead to next weekend’s event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to reclaim the victory that slipped out of his grasp at Phoenix.
“I don’t think you could do anything differently,” Allgaier said. “[I’m] Really just proud of our team. Everybody on this BRANDT Professional Agricultural Chevrolet did a great job. To unload with the speed we had and to race the way that we did, I was really proud.
Great pit stops on pit road. I’d like to have that one back. I got down in there [into Turn 1]. [The on-track safety crew] blew the rubber across the racetrack, all the marble as well when we were going under caution, right in front of us. I knew I had a bunch on the tires and you’re trying to get it off there. We got down in [Turn 1]. Honestly, hats off to Aric [Almirola] because I thought I gave the race away for him and myself, but he was able to get back up there. Just really disappointed in the finish. We’ll go back, decipher this one and go to [Las] Vegas. Hopefully, it gets a little bit better.”
Brandon Jones, who is riding a three-year winless drought, came home in third place after he missed the victory by a tenth of a second while Ryan Sieg, who started at the rear of the field in a backup car, edged Allgaier to finish in fourth place.
Rookie Taylor Gray, Sam Mayer, rookie Christian Eckes, Jesse Love and rookie Nick Sanchez completed the top 10 in the final running order.
Notably, Parker Retzlaff, Josh Williams, rookie William Sawalich, Sammy Smith and Jeb Burton finished in the top 15 while rookie Connor Zilisch ended up in 16th place.
There were 14 lead changes for five different leaders. The race featured six cautions for 46 laps. In addition, 21 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.
Following the fourth event of the 2025 Xfinity Series season, Jesse Love leads the regular-season standings by two points over Justin Allgaier, 13 over Sam Mayer, 20 over Austin Hill and 22 over Sammy Smith.
Race Results:
1. Aric Almirola, 25 laps led
2. Alex Bowman, 50 laps led, Stage 1 winner
3. Brandon Jones
4. Ryan Sieg
5. Justin Allgaier, 130 laps led, Stage 2 winner
6. Taylor Gray
7. Sam Mayer
8. Christian Eckes
9. Jesse Love
10. Nick Sanchez
11. Parker Retzlaff
12. Josh Williams
13. William Sawalich
14. Sammy Smith
15. Jeb Burton
16. Connor Zilisch, two laps led
17. Brennan Poole
18. Kyle Sieg
19. Daniel Dye
20. Harrison Burton
21. Jeremy Clements
22. Mason Massey, one lap down
23. Josh Bilicki, two laps down
24. Blaine Perkins, two laps down
25. Kris Wright, two laps down
26. Carson Kvapil, two laps down
27. Matt DiBenedetto, three laps down
28. Joey Gase, three laps down
29. Garrett Smithley, four laps down
30. Nick Leitz, four laps down
31. Greg Van Alst, seven laps down
32. Anthony Alfredo, 15 laps down
33. Ryan Ellis, 22 laps down
34. Thomas Annunziata, 23 laps down
35. Dawson Cram – OUT, Accident
36. Sheldon Creed – OUT, Accident
37. Austin Hill – OUT, Accident
38. Dean Thompson – OUT, Accident
Next on the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada, for The LiUNA! The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, March 15, and air at 4:30 p.m. ET on the CW Network.
