As hell broke loose on the backstretch at the “World Center of Racing,” Aric Almirola found himself just barely ahead of Justin Allgaier when the caution waved to score the victory in the Subway Firecracker 250.
“It was an emotional last few laps,” Almirola said in victory lane. “I thought I had a shot to win but wasn’t sure I would get it done. I got a big push from the 7 and then he pulled out and the 18 came and gave me a good push. I am really thankful for that. It is a huge night for me to get back to victory lane in the XFINITY Seires. I didn’t feel like I truly won in the XFINITY Series before but tonight was my night. Now I can truly say I have truly won in every series in NASCAR.”
This is the second career victory in 93 XFINITY Series for the driver of the No. 98 Biagi-DenBeste Racing Ford and first since Milwaukee in 2007. It’s his third top-10 finish of 2016 and third in eight races at Daytona International Speedway.
Allgaier led three laps on his way to a runner-up finish in his No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet. It’s his 12th top-10 finish in 2016 and sixth in 12 races at Daytona. Ryan Sieg rounded out the podium in his No. 39 RSS Racing Chevrolet. It’s his third top-10 finish in six races at Daytona.
Joey Logano led 46 laps, most of any driver, on his way to a fourth-place finish in his No. 22 Team Penske Ford.
“We had such a fast Discount Tire Ford and it just goes to show with how many laps we led,” Logano said. “Toward the end of the race we just made a bad call. Went to the top to block and the bottom was coming with momentum and I didn’t get there in time and we got shuffled down the middle and lost 10 or 15 spots. We recovered to finish third. We will take it.”
Brendan Gaughan led one lap on his way to rounding out the top-five in his No. 62 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet.
Ryan Reed earned his first top-10 finish with a sixth-place finish in his No. 16 Roush Fenway Racing Ford. Jeff Green finished seventh in his No. 17 Rick Ware Racing Toyota. It’s his first top-10 finish since Richmond in 2005. Spencer Gallagher finished eighth in his No. 23 GMS Racing Chevrolet. Chase Elliott led five laps on his way to a ninth-place finish in his No. 88 JRM Chevrolet. Erik Jones rounded out the top-10 in his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.
“Just really up and down day…Not really sure – we just got drug down at the end,” Jones said. “We had a lot of right rear damage and knew it wasn’t going to be too good by ourselves there but just had a tandem at the end and tried to give yourselves the best shot to get out and break away from the field but we just couldn’t do it. Too bad. I feel bad for the 18 (David Ragan) car. We both got drug back together.”
Twenty-two cars finished the race on the lead lap and 27 were running at the finish.
The race lasted two hours, seven minutes and 29 seconds at an average speed of 121.192 mph. There were 19 lead changes among 12 different drivers and eight cautions for 33 laps.
Daniel Suárez leaves Daytona with a six-point lead over Sadler in the points standings.
Next up for the XFINITY Series is Kentucky Speedway next Friday.
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