To say Aric Almirola flew under the radar during his NASCAR Cup Series career would be an understatement.
Don’t get me wrong, Almirola has a solid Cup resume. He was a five-time qualifier for the playoffs and got all the way to the Round of 8 in 2018. Almirola finished his career with three wins and nearly 100 top-10 finishes.
There wasn’t much fanfare when he announced he’d be retiring from full-time Cup racing in 2023 to be with his family more, though. Part of that was timing, plus he had teased retirement the year before. But truthfully, Almirola leaving Stewart-Haas Racing wasn’t seen as a huge shift in the Cup Series.
What we didn’t know at the time was how much of a game changer Almirola was about to become in his post-retirement role at Joe Gibbs Racing.
Almirola joined the team and took on a mentorship role at Toyota while racing a part-time NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule. He’d share the Nos. 19 and 20 Toyotas with three Cup drivers — John Hunter Nemechek, Ty Gibbs and Christopher Bell — as well as Ryan Truex and a slew of up-and-comers.
What set him apart from that group? Experience was the obvious answer, but there was another key factor in his approach. While Bell, Nemechek and Gibbs had all had their turn dominating the series and racking up wins, Almirola had spent years trying to get to a point where he could contend every week.
“My primary goal when I came back to Joe Gibbs Racing was to win,” Almirola told Jayski in an Oct. 4, 2024, article where he again pondered retirement. “If I’m going to come do this, I desperately want to win. I want to win for the team, win for the organization, Coach [Joe Gibbs] and the Gibbs family.”
The No. 20 won nine races, three of which were by Almirola. Not only did he win about a quarter of the races he entered, he also pushed the team to a second-place finish in the owner’s championship behind Justin Allgaier.
Then, just as he did during his Cup career, Almirola faded into the background leading up to the 2025 season until he showed up on the entry list at Atlanta Motor Speedway with a nine-race deal with JGR’s No. 19 through Young Life.
His first race out saw him not just battle but outright fight the likes of Austin Hill and Parker Retzlaff for the win. Coming to the white flag, Almirola bumped leader Hill and crossed him over to send The CW booth into a frenzy. He came home third.
His next race at Phoenix Raceway, Almirola showed he’s willing to push the limits on clean a little further in order to win with his limited schedule.
After jockeying with Allgaier for space on a green-white-checkered, Almirola ended up behind Alex Bowman on the last lap. He rode up the hill off turns 3 and 4, they made contact and Almirola won his fourth race in 16 starts since rejoining JGR.
The big question afterward was if Almirola’s move was clean.
“I mean, he finished second, didn’t he?” Almirola said. “I didn’t crash him. I thought it was fair. I didn’t put him fuel-cell deep. I got him loose, and I was able to get some clean air off my nose and throttled up, and we raced to the start/finish line. We rubbed, but these cars will get taken back to the shop, they’ll tear them apart and they’ll rebuild them.”
Here’s a bigger question and part of what makes his entry into the Xfinity Series so interesting: should it matter to Almirola if he wins races cleanly?
Based on his circumstance, maybe not as much as it used to.
In this instance, Almirola was racing another guy not running for an Xfinity title in Bowman. Not only that, but Almirola didn’t have a Cup ride the next day where he had to worry about retaliation from Bowman. He had very little to lose and, at this stage of his career, everything to gain.
How would this have played out if it had been, for example, Allgaier? Would he have driven just as aggressively for a win? It’s not like he’s got to worry about racing the regulars every week either, although his other No. 19 teammates may pay the piper down the line. I still don’t know if that takes him out of a fight for the win.
“We get paid to win,” Almirola said Saturday (March 8). “I get paid a lot more money than if I finish second.”
Never in Almirola’s career has he had such a leg up on the competition in his races, entering every race he runs as one of the most experienced in the field with a top-tier car. With his opportunities to win numbered, why not go all out for both yourself and the team giving you that opportunity?
While the Xfinity Series has built a reputation in a post-Buschwacking world for building up the stars of tomorrow or being a rebound spot for those out of Cup, it’s been a while since the series has produced a driver in Almirola’s position: a veteran in the twilight of his career looking to show he’s still got it.
It’s great for the series in many ways. While some drivers at the early stages of the season would be content late for good points days and keeping relationships in check, Almirola has forced the issue and played a role in two exciting finishes.
Almirola doesn’t need to worry about points or image. If he’s going to the track, there’s only one thing he wants to do: win.
James Krause joined Frontstretch in March 2024 as a contributor. Krause was born and raised in Illinois and graduated from Northern Illinois University. He currently works in La Crosse, Wisconsin as a local sports reporter, including local short track racing. Outside of racing, Krause loves to keep up with football, music, anime and video games.