{"id":4397,"date":"2016-07-01T23:33:03","date_gmt":"2016-07-02T04:33:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=4397"},"modified":"2016-07-01T23:33:03","modified_gmt":"2016-07-02T04:33:03","slug":"almirola-edges-allgaier-for-nascar-xfinity-series-win-at-daytona","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2016\/07\/01\/almirola-edges-allgaier-for-nascar-xfinity-series-win-at-daytona\/","title":{"rendered":"Almirola edges Allgaier for NASCAR XFINITY Series win at Daytona"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Reid Spencer<\/b><\/span>
\nNASCAR Wire Service<\/b><\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. \u2013 <\/span><\/strong>Aric Almirola won his second NASCAR XFINITY Series race by much less than a nose.<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

But to the driver of the No. 98 Fred Biagi-owned Ford, that was a vast improvement over his first victory in the series\u2014when he wasn\u2019t even in the car when the race ended.<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Aric

Aric Almirola, driver of the #98 Fresh From Florida Ford, celebrates with champagne in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR XFINITY Series Subway Firecracker 250 at Daytona International Speedway on July 1, 2016 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Chris Trotman\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

In Friday night\u2019s Subway Firecracker 400 at Daytona International Speedway, Almirola was inches ahead of Justin Allgaier off the final corner in overtime when NASCAR called the eighth caution of the race and froze the field because of a wild wreck on the backstretch involving polesitter David Ragan.<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Though Almirola was credited with a 2007 win at the Milwaukee Mile, where he started the race in place of Denny Hamlin, who was commuting from the Sprint Cup venue at Sonoma. But Hamlin took the checkered flag after taking over the car, and Almirola has never felt the win was rightfully his.<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

“I\u2019m so glad to be back in Victory Lane here at Daytona,” Almirola said. “This is such a special place for me. I won my first Cup race here two years ago, and for me, this is my first XFINITY win. I know I have a win, but there\u2019s always been an asterisk next to it\u2026<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

“I hated the fact that I got credit for that. When they called me the winner, I didn\u2019t want any of the credit. (Crew chief) Dave Rogers actually got the trophy. They tried to give me the trophy, but I didn\u2019t want it. I didn\u2019t think I deserved to win the race, because I wasn\u2019t in the car when the race was over.<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Aric

Aric Almirola, driver of the #98 Fresh From Florida Ford, celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR XFINITY Series Subway Firecracker 250 at Daytona International Speedway on July 1, 2016 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Sean Gardner\/NASCAR via Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

“But tonight I was. Tonight we went to Victory Lane, and I\u2019m here, and I was in the car\u2014so this is my first XFINITY win.”<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Almirola already was one of 26 drivers who have won at least one race in each of NASCAR\u2019s top three series. Now he can feel good about it.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Allgaier, on the other hand was on the short end of the video that showed Almirola in the lead when the caution was called.<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

“When you lose \u2018em by that little bit, it\u2019s frustrating,” said Allgaier, who estimated he lost the event by “a sixteenth of a foot.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

“But when you\u2019re disappointed with second, it\u2019s still a good day\u2026 Man, when you\u2019re that close, it\u2019s really, really tough. We\u2019ll keeping digging. At some point we\u2019ve got to maybe pull one of these off.”<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Ryan Sieg finished third, matching the career-best result he achieved in this race two years ago. Joey Logano led a race-high 46 of 103 laps but was shuffled back with fewer than 20 laps left and recovered to run fourth. Brendan Gaughan came home fifth.<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\"DAYTONA

DAYTONA BEACH, FL – JULY 01: Aric Almirola, driver of the #98 Fresh From Florida Ford, celebrates with the checkered flag on the infield after winning the NASCAR XFINITY Series Subway Firecracker 250 at Daytona International Speedway on July 1, 2016 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Chris Trotman\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Ragan led the field to green to start the overtime but quickly lost his drafting partner and surrendered the top spot. Subbing for Matt Tifft, who had come out of brain surgery for a tumor just before the race began, Ragan tried to block the outside lane on the final lap and finished 21st in a demolished Toyota.<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

“I was kind of a sitting duck,” Ragan said. “My teammate, Erik Jones, did a great job on that white-flag lap, but we just got separated. And I didn\u2019t really know that third lane was coming as fast as they were, and I saw that the 98 (Almirola) and the 7 (Allgaier) had a decent run, but I thought I could block the very top, and you only have so much room.<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

“That was just a product of speedway racing.”<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Points leader Daniel Suarez was the victim of a hard crash into the inside SAFER barrier on the backstretch on Lap 49 and finished 32nd but maintained a six-point lead in the standings over Elliott Sadler, who had to pit for fuel before the overtime and came home 18th.<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Note: \u00a0Additional photos posted after results.<\/em><\/p>\n

NASCAR XFINITY Series Race – Subway Firecracker 250 Powered by Coca-Cola<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Daytona International Speedway<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Daytona Beach, Florida<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Friday, July 01, 2016<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 1. (23) Aric Almirola(i), Ford, 103.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2. (7) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 103.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 3. (30) Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, 103.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 4. (4) Joey Logano(i), Ford, 103.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 5. (17) Brendan Gaughan, Chevrolet, 103.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 6. (14) Ryan Reed, Ford, 103.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 7. (18) Jeff Green, Toyota, 103.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 8. (27) Spencer Gallagher(i), Chevrolet, 103.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 9. (15) Chase Elliott(i), Chevrolet, 103.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 10. (3) Erik Jones #, Toyota, 103.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 11. (24) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 103.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 12. (26) Dakoda Armstrong, Toyota, 103.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 13. (39) Garrett Smithley #, Chevrolet, 103.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 14. (11) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 103.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 15. (37) Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, 103.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 16. (32) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 103.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 17. (19) JJ Yeley, Toyota, 103.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 18. (9) Elliott Sadler, Chevrolet, 103.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 19. (34) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, 103.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 20. (6) Darrell Wallace Jr., Ford, 103.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 21. (1) David Ragan(i), Toyota, 103.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 22. (16) Blake Koch, Chevrolet, 103.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 23. (12) Benny Gordon, Toyota, 102.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 24. (31) Bobby Gerhart, Chevrolet, 102.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 25. (35) Scott Lagasse Jr., Ford, 100.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 26. (8) Brennan Poole #, Chevrolet, Accident, 97.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 27. (33) David Starr, Chevrolet, Accident, 96.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 28. (2) Austin Dillon(i), Chevrolet, 96.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 29. (13) Brandon Jones #, Chevrolet, 82.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 30. (10) Corey LaJoie, Toyota, Oil Leak, 73.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 31. (20) Mark Thompson, Toyota, Engine, 57.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 32. (5) Daniel Suarez, Toyota, Accident, 48.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 33. (22) Mario Gosselin, Chevrolet, Oil Leak, 47.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 34. (28) Ryan Preece #, Chevrolet, Engine, 42.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 35. (29) Morgan Shepherd, Chevrolet, Rear Gear, 28.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 36. (25) Joe Nemechek(i), Toyota, Accident, 14.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 37. (21) Justin Marks, Chevrolet, Accident, 14.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 38. (38) Alex Guenette, Chevrolet, Accident, 9.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 39. (36) Ray Black Jr. #, Chevrolet, Accident, 8.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 40. (40) BJ McLeod #, Ford, Engine, 1.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Average Speed of Race Winner:\u00a0 121.192 mph.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Time of Race:\u00a0 2 Hrs, 07 Mins, 29 Secs. Margin of Victory:\u00a0 Caution.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Caution Flags:\u00a0 8 for 33 laps.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Lead Changes:\u00a0 19 among 12 drivers.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Lap Leaders:\u00a0\u00a0 D. Ragan(i) 1-3; A. Dillon(i) 4-13; J. Logano(i) 14; E. Sadler 15-17; M. Thompson 18; M. Shepherd 19; T. Dillon 20-22; J. Logano(i) 23-44; R. Chastain 45-46; B. Gaughan 47; J. Logano(i) 48-68; J. Allgaier 69-71; E. Sadler 72; J. Logano(i) 73; E. Sadler 74-80; J. Logano(i) 81; C. Elliott(i) 82-86; A. Almirola(i) 87; D. Ragan(i) 88-102; A. Almirola(i) 103;.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):\u00a0 J. Logano(i) 5 times for 46 laps; D. Ragan(i) 2 times for 18 laps; E. Sadler 3 times for 11 laps; A. Dillon(i) 1 time for 10 laps; C. Elliott(i) 1 time for 5 laps; J. Allgaier 1 time for 3 laps; T. Dillon 1 time for 3 laps; R. Chastain 1 time for 2 laps; A. Almirola(i) 2 times for 2 laps; M. Shepherd 1 time for 1 lap; B. Gaughan 1 time for 1 lap; M. Thompson 1 time for 1 lap.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Top 10 in Points: D. Suarez – 499; E. Sadler – 493; T. Dillon – 483; J. Allgaier – 462; B. Gaughan – 449; E. Jones # – 442; B. Jones # – 429; B. Poole # – 422; D. Wallace Jr. – 394; R. Reed – 366.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"David

David Ragan, driver of the #18 Surface Sunscreen\/Rugged Maniac Toyota, leads the field past the green flag to start the NASCAR XFINITY Series Subway Firecracker 250 at Daytona International Speedway on July 1, 2016 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Sarah Crabill\/NASCAR via Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"David

David Ragan, driver of the #18 Surface Sunscreen\/Rugged Maniac Toyota, and Austin Dillon, driver of the #2 Rheem Chevrolet, lead the field to start the NASCAR XFINITY Series Subway Firecracker 250 at Daytona International Speedway on July 1, 2016 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Brian Lawdermilk\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Brendan

Brendan Gaughan, driver of the #62 South Point Chevrolet, races Brennan Poole, driver of the #48 DC Solar Chevrolet, during the NASCAR XFINITY Series Subway Firecracker 250 at Daytona International Speedway on July 1, 2016 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Matt Sullivan\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Joey

Joey Logano, driver of the #22 Discount Tire Ford, leads Ty Dillon, driver of the #3 Bass Pro Shops\/NRA Museum Chevrolet, Elliott Sadler, driver of the #1 OneMain Chevrolet, Brendan Gaughan, driver of the #62 South Point Chevrolet, and David Ragan, driver of the #18 Surface Sunscreen\/Rugged Maniac Toyota, during the NASCAR XFINITY Series Subway Firecracker 250 at Daytona International Speedway on July 1, 2016 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Chris Trotman\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Joey

Joey Logano, driver of the #22 Discount Tire Ford, leads a pack of cars during the NASCAR XFINITY Series Subway Firecracker 250 at Daytona International Speedway on July 1, 2016 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Matt Sullivan\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Aric

Aric Almirola, driver of the #98 Fresh From Florida Ford, celebrates with a burnout and the checkered flag after winning the NASCAR XFINITY Series Subway Firecracker 250 at Daytona International Speedway on July 1, 2016 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Jerry Markland\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Aric

Aric Almirola, driver of the #98 Fresh From Florida Ford, celebrates with the checkered flag on the infield after winning the NASCAR XFINITY Series Subway Firecracker 250 at Daytona International Speedway on July 1, 2016 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Brian Lawdermilk\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Aric

Aric Almirola, driver of the #98 Fresh From Florida Ford, leads Justin Allgaier, driver of the #7 TradeMark Nitrogen Chevrolet, and the rest of the field to the checkered flag under caution to win the NASCAR XFINITY Series Subway Firecracker 250 at Daytona International Speedway on July 1, 2016 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Sarah Crabill\/NASCAR via Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. \u2013 Aric Almirola won his second NASCAR XFINITY Series race by much less than a nose. But to the driver of the No. 98 Fred Biagi-owned Ford, that was a vast improvement over his first victory in the series\u2014when he wasn\u2019t even in the car when […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4409,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[11],"tags":[272,273,16],"class_list":["post-4397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nascar","tag-aric-almirola","tag-daytona","tag-nascar"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/DIS_NXS_VL2_070116.jpg?fit=5006%2C3337&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-18V","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4397","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4397"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4397\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4411,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4397\/revisions\/4411"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4409"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}