WHAT. A. FINISH!! pic.twitter.com/T9HrPc20Xn
— NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) March 9, 2025
Aric Almirola has returned to Victory Lane in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, after an incredible last-lap move on Alex Bowman.
After race leader Justin Allgaier slid to the outside and pushed Almirola to the outside wall, Bowman, a NASCAR Cup Series regular, slid through with a four-wide move to the race lead in NASCAR Overtime.
Bowman, driving the No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, was leading the race on the final lap, when Almirols dove to the inside in the final set of corners.
What followed was an incredible side-by-side finish between Bowman and Almirola, with the Joe Gibbs Racing driver pushing the No. 17 up the racetrack and into the outside wall, as the field approached the start-finish line.
Almirola beat Bowman to the start-finish line by just 0.045 seconds, the second-closest finish in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at Phoenix Raceway. Brandon Jones was third, just 0.122 seconds behind.