Aric Almirola competed in five of the opening 11 NASCAR Xfinity Series events combined between the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 and No. 20 Toyota GR Supra entries, but the driver has been absent since recording a fifth-place finish at Darlington Raceway on May 11.
With Almirola not being in the driver lineup for Joe Gibbs Racing over the last four NASCAR Xfinity Series events, rumors began to swirl like wildfire on social media about where the driver was. Some of the rumors had even suggested that Almirola had been released from the team altogether.
TobyChristie.com confirmed with a team representative on Friday that Almirola is in fact still employed by the team and that there has been no change in his status within the organization. The team representative said Almirola is slated to compete for the organization in the upcoming NASCAR Xfinity Series event at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 20.
Almirola, who won the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Martinsville Speedway earlier this year, has three top-five finishes through his first five starts of the year. Almirola has one-career NASCAR Xfinity Series start at the iconic 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which came back in 2015. Almirola started eighth and finished 14th in that event.
The three-time NASCAR Cup Series race winner made nine starts at Indianapolis over the course of his NASCAR Cup Series career, and he scored a track-best finish of third in 2020. Almirola started that event from the fifth position.
After 12 full-time seasons in the NASCAR Cup Series, Almirola announced his retirement from full-time competition at the conclusion of the 2023 season. After that announcement, Almirola was offered a part-time NASCAR Xfinity Series ride with Joe Gibbs Racing, where Almirola has taken on a mentor role for the younger drivers in the JGR stable.
One Response
Thought everything changed. Okay then.