MARTINSVILLE, Va. — There never was any doubt that Aric Almirola could win races in NASCAR; he proved he could time and time again. However, the dominant Xfinity wins with Joe Gibbs Racing have added a little something extra for the veteran driver.
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"It's always fun to win, right, but for me, it honestly is just validation," Almirola told media members after leading 150 of 250 laps at Martinsville on Saturday.
Saturday's race marked Almirola's 13th start for Joe Gibbs Racing this season. He has won three of these races — twice at Martinsville and once at Kansa — while running a more relaxed, part-time schedule.
Almirola has led 415 laps while sharing the entry with other drivers, and he has helped put the car into the owner's Championship 4. The No. 20 Toyota GR Supra is only one race away from a potential championship.
"To have the success and to compete at this level is validation for me just to know that when I have good cars and fast cars and a good pit crew and everything is lined up, that I can get the job done," Almirola said.
Almirola has competed in a variety of vehicles of varying levels of quality throughout his career. He drove for Joe Gibbs Racing early in his Xfinity career. He spent time with Dale Earnhardt, Inc., Richard Petty Motorsports, and Stewart-Haas Racing in Cup.
The Florida native won races in cars that weren't necessarily as competitive as others on the starting grid. His win at Daytona in 2014 with Richard Petty Motorsports and his win at New Hampshire in 2021 with Stewart-Haas Racing were prominent examples.
Almirola's closest brush with a championship was in 2018, his first season at Stewart-Haas Racing. He won at Talladega and reached the Round of 8. He then had an opportunity to move Kyle Busch out of the way at Phoenix to win the race and lock up a spot in the Championship 4.
Almirola did not make this move, so he failed to advance in the playoffs. He ended the season a career-best fifth in points. And while he was dejected after this near-miss, he also realized that he didn't need to be a champion to be happy. He had God and his family.
While Almirola never came close to a Cup championship after the 2018 season. His best finish in his final five seasons was 14th in the standings, and he went winless in his final two seasons with SHR while missing the playoffs.
"I worked so hard throughout my career, and I wanted more success. I wanted to win more Cup races. I wanted to contend for a Cup championship," Almirola said.
"It never happened, right, and my life will go on, and I will be fine with that. I sleep totally fine at night."
Almirola has won multiple races since scaling back his schedule and joining JGR. He has put himself within one race of delivering a championship.
Whether he wins this owner's title for JGR won't change how he views himself or where racing lies on his list of priorities. That doesn't mean he won't embrace the latest turn in his racing career.
"If racing would have ended at Phoenix last year and that would have been my last race ever when I climbed out of the Cup car, I would have been okay with that, but the fact that Coach (Joe Gibbs) gave me this opportunity, I felt like it was an open door from the Lord. And we are doing it."
