Aric Almirola takes late lead, holds off Allmendinger and Larson for DoorDash 250 Xfinity win

Aric Almirola heads to the finish line on the way to victory in Saturday’s DoorDash 250 Xfinity race at Sonoma Speedway. Photo by David Barks

SONOMA, CA – Aric Almirola is celebrating his first victory at Sonoma Raceway and the fourth overall Xfinity Series win of his career after grabbing the lead with 15 laps to go and then holding off AJ Allmendinger and Kyle Larson to win Saturday’s Door Dash 250.

“Oh, man, this is so special,” said Almirola, who was making his second Xfinity start of the season after a 24th-place finish at Circuit of the Americas in April. “It’s hard to explain. I know it’s an Xfinity win—it’s not a Cup win, but after COTA (I said) I don’t think I should run any more road course races in an Xfinity car.

“It makes me look like a wanker, and I lose self-confidence going into Sunday. But I knew that this racetrack, this is one I that can run good at. I’ve run good here my whole career. I don’t know what it is about this place, but I love racing here.”

Abby Almirola waves the checkered flag in front of brother Alex as their father Aric Almirola celebrates winning Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity race at Sonoma Speedway. Photo by David Barks.

For most of the race, it was as if Larson was having a leisurely (albeit high-speed) drive through Northern California’s scenic wine country.

Until a sudden turn of events – Turn 11 to be specific.

Larson started on the pole and easily won both Stages 1 and 2 and was running away from the field – with better than a 13-second lead when the caution flag flew on Lap 62 after Jeffrey Earnhardt crashed on Turn 10 of the 12-turn, 1.99-mile road course. It was just the second (and final) caution on the day.

When the race restarted, Almirola was able to jump into the lead with Larson and Allmendinger right on his rear bumper.

That’s when Turn 11 came into play.

Larson was almost even with Almirola heading into Turn 11 on Lap 71 of the 79-lap race, but he went wide – way wide – allowing Allmendinger to slide into second place while Almirola increased his lead.

Larson’s dominant day went right down the drain.

“I just got too greedy,” said Larson, who led a race-high 53 laps to Almirola’s 17. “I was kind of tucked up right behind him, clipped the tires, and it knocked the wheel out of my hands. After that the toe was off. I was really tight in the left and really loose in the right, so I couldn’t make runs at it…

“I’m really mad at myself right now, but I’m really proud of the car they (Hendrick Motorsports) brought. Congrats to Aric, too. He did a really good job out in front of me, hitting his marks. He could kind of get away from me in a couple of important areas and would make me have to work hard behind him. So hats off to him and that team.”

“I just got too greedy,” said Larson, who led a race-high 53 laps to Almirola’s 17. “I was kind of tucked up right behind him, clipped the tires, and it knocked the wheel out of my hands. After that the toe was off. I was really tight in the left and really loose in the right, so I couldn’t make runs at it…

“I’m really mad at myself right now, but I’m really proud of the car they (Hendrick Motorsports) brought. Congrats to Aric, too. He did a really good job out in front of me, hitting his marks. He could kind of get away from me in a couple of important areas and would make me have to work hard behind him. So hats off to him and that team.”

Allmendinger finished second, 1.868 seconds behind, with Larson third.

Ty Gibbs finished fourth, followed by Parker Kligerman, Cole Custer, Justin Allgaier, Austin Hill, Sammy Smit, and Sam Mayer.

Aric Almirola does the winner’s burnout after Saturday’s DoorDash 250 at Sonoma Speedway. Photo by David Barks

“It was an eventful day, going all the way back to qualifying,” said Almirola. “I qualified fourth (for the Xfinity race) and then jumped right over to the Cup car. I felt like a fish out of water.

“In the (Xfinity) race, I thought I had a third-place car to Larson and Allmendinger. After the first pit stop, I thought my car was better, and even better after the second pit stop. After the final restart, I thought if I could just get clean air then I could hold them off for the final laps and get the win. When Larson made that mistake on Turn 11. It gave me some breathing room.

“And this is huge for RSS Racing. It’s their first-ever win. I’m so thankful for their alliance with Stewart-Haas Racing. RSS is just a great group of people. I’m so happy I was able to get them to Victory Lane.”

NASCAR wraps up its trip to the Northern California Wine Country on Sunday with the Toyota/SaveMart 350 Cup series race.

Kyle Larson (17) leads the field at the start of Saturday’s DoorDash 250 Xfinity race at Sonoma Speedway. Larson finished third behind Aric Almirola (28) and AJ Allmendinger. Photo by David Barks
Kyle Larson (17) leads the field coming out of Turn 11 Saturday at Sonoma Raceway. Following are AJ Allmendinger (10), Aric Almirola (28) and Justin Allgaier (7). Photo by David Barks.
Aric Almirola celebrates winning Saturday’s DoorDash 250 Xfinity race at Sonoma Speedway. Photo by David Barks

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