For the second time in the first four weeks of the season, a last-lap pass has decided the winner of a NASCAR Xfinity Series event — and Aric Almirola has now been on both sides of the coin.
In Saturday’s GOVX 200 at Phoenix Raceway, the Tampa, Florida-native was able to take advantage of a short-run car to make a last-lap pass in NASCAR Overtime on Alex Bowman.
Almirola had one of the fastest vehicles all afternoon, and while he only paced the field for 25 laps, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver was easily able to keep pace with Justin Allgaier, who dominated Saturday’s race.
But, when a late-race spin by Nick Leitz sent the race, which was looking like an easy lay-up for Justin Allgaier, into overtime, things happened to get exciting.
As Allgaier restarted alongside Almirola, the No. 7 Chevrolet slid up the racetrack into the door of the No. 19, allowing Bowman, a full-timer in the NASCAR Cup Series, to make a four-wide move and slide through the middle.
The defending NASCAR Xfinity Series champion struggled to get off the corner while Almirola surged into second place, beginning his quest to track down Bowman.
RACE RESULTS: 2025 NXS GOVX 200 at Phoenix Raceway
On the final lap, Almirola reached the rear bumper of the HendrickCars.com Chevrolet and heading into the final set of corners, lunged to the inside line, sliding up the track and pushing Bowman into the wall.
“I just knew I needed to get from there to here first. I knew I was going to use him up a little bit, but trying to win the race,” Almirola said. “You know, I feel like it was warranted. I didn’t think I did anything overly egregious. I just throttled up, and I knew it was going to be a drag race to the start-finish line. Just so proud of all of the guys on this team.”
Almirola triumphed by 0.045 seconds, scoring his seventh win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series — and his fourth since rejoining Joe Gibbs Racing at the start of last season.
Bowman, making his only scheduled NASCAR Xfinity Series start of the season, finished in the runner-up position for Hendrick Motorsports. It matches his best finish in the No. 17 Chevrolet, which came at Indy’s Road Course in 2022.
“I mean, I would have hoped that he would have given me a lane on exit, but he just exited like I wasn’t there,” said Alex Bowman. “Which, he was better than us, for sure, but I just tried to capitalize on that restart and try to win the race, and got shoved into the fence. And the race car is destroyed.”
Finishing in third-place, Brandon Jones recorded his first top-five result in the NASCAR Xfinity Series since last May at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Ryan Sieg, driving a backup car, made an incredible recovery to finish in fourth, his first top-five result since last Fall at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and his first-ever top-five at Phoenix Raceway.
Justin Allgaier, who led a race-high 130 laps, rounded out the top-five, in fifth. Taylor Gray, Sam Mayer, Christian Eckes, Jesse Love, and Nick Sanchez rounded out the top-10.
Austin Hill and Sheldon Creed, who both entered the event inside the top-three in series point standings, met early ends to their afternoons after an incident on Lap 63 when Hill smacked the inside wall and shot up the racetrack into the No. 00, also collecting Dean Thompson.
Leaving Phoenix, Jesse Love holds a two-point advantage over Justin Allgaier in the NASCAR Xfinity Series point standings, with Sam Mayer, Austin Hill, and Sammy Smith inside the top five.
Up next for the NASCAR Xfinity Series is a trip to Las Vegas Motor Speedway, which will take place on Saturday, March 15 at 4:30 PM ET on The CW, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
