Aric Almirola fended off the HAAS Factory teammates to claim the NASCAR Xfinity Series win at Bristol on Friday (Sept. 12th).
The win was his ninth Xfinity win of his career and second in 2025 as the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing team pursues the owners’ championship.
“I’ve just been tired of getting beat by those guys.” Almirola said postrace. “I figured I’d try my chances with the lead.
“They’ve been so fast and they fire off so fast on new tires and I just didn’t think I could them straight up on new tires. It took about 20 laps to get going so I thought my best chance was to stay out on old tires.
“Seth (Chavka) and I watched the last two or three races here and we saw when the No. 9 car with Noah Gragson won with 100 laps on his tires, so I decided to stay out when they said pit.”
Sheldon Creed once again claimed second, the 15th runner-up result of his Xfinity Series career. His teammate Sam Mayer finished third.
Carson Kvapil finished his night in fourth with Connor Zilisch earning his 26th top five of the season, finishing fifth.
Justin Allgaier took control early over Mayer from pole position and opened up a decent lead over the competition.
The first caution of the night came on lap 12 when Ryan Sieg was clipped by Leland Honeyman on the frontstretch. Sieg slid into turn 1 and made contact with Ryan Ellis who made minor contact with the outside wall.
Allgaier continued to lead on the ensuing restart with Zilisch close behind in second. After a couple of laps, Allgaier stretched his lead and caught lap traffic.
Just past the midway point in stage one, Sammy Smith experienced an engine failure which put an end to his race, putting him behind in the playoff standings.
A couple of laps later, Jesse Love and Corey Day collided in turns 1 and 2 which sent Day’s car spinning for the second caution of the night. Many of the leaders pitted under the caution allowing Harrison Burton and Love to stay out in an attempt to get stage points.
A spin by @corey_day_ brings the yellow out on Lap 77. pic.twitter.com/ZuiQgMFHuI
— NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) September 13, 2025
On the ensuing restart, Love passed Harrison Burton, entering the final lap of stage one. Suddenly, Love slid up the track, allowing Allgaier to take the lead en route to the stage victory over teammate Zilisch.
Allgaier began stage two in a fight with Mayer, but Mayer took the lead as Allgaier fell to third.
Mayer continued to lead with Zilisch close behind as they made their way through traffic. As the laps wound down, the battle intensified with Zilisch moving within reach of the lead.
Zilisch closed right up to the bumper of Mayer before making his way to the outside on the last lap of the stage. The move was just enough for Zilisch to prevail past Mayer and claim the stage two victory.
Zilisch maintained the top spot for the final stage as Allgaier and Mayer battled for second. Mayer, after a couple of laps, emerged in second and set sights on the leader.
An incredible drive from @ConnorZilisch to take the stage! 💪 pic.twitter.com/7s7OjnkAdv
— NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) September 13, 2025
A caution fell with under 90 to go for a spin from Daniel Dye in turn 2. Zilisch once again restarted up front with Almirola taking second from Mayer.
With under 70 to go, Almirola closed in with teammate Brandon Jones close behind. The laps continued to click away before a caution came with 38 to go after Carson Ware spun in turns 1 and 2 after contact with Mayer.
Eight cars stayed out after the caution, including the cars of Almirola and Mayer, Allgaier and Kvapil.
Almirola held the top spot before a caution came for Taylor Gray who spun on the front stretch after Jeb Burton slowed in front. Anthony Alfredo also made contact with the outside wall as he tried to avoid the spinning Gray.
Contact on the frontstretch sends @Taylor_Gray sliding! pic.twitter.com/g2ovuk8HRf
— NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) September 13, 2025
Almirola kept the lead on the ensuing restart with Mayer moving to second. This set up a battle between Almirola and Mayer.
Mayer and his teammate Creed made their best effort but it wasn’t enough to dethrone the Joe Gibbs Racing driver.
NASCAR Xfinity Series Bristol Results
The second race for the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs takes place at the Kansas Speedway Saturday (Sept. 27) at 4:00 p.m. ET on the CW.
