Race report

NASCAR O'Reilly Sonoma

Aric Almirola takes Sonoma Xfinity win as Larson stumbles

A strategic pit call and some bad luck by Kyle Larson helped Aric Almirola score an upset victory Saturday in the NASCAR Xfinity Series’ inaugural race at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway.

Jim Utter

Edited: Jun 11, 2023, 4:18 AM

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A late-race caution for a wreck involving Jeffrey Earnhardt sent most of the lead-lap cars – including leader Larson – down pit road but Almirola’s No. 28 RSS Racing team elected to stay on the track.

By Turn 4 on the restart with 15 of 79 laps remaining, Almirola passed Alex Labbe to take the lead and then faced a hard-charging Larson who was closing fast.

On Lap 72, Larson went way wide entering Turn 11 after hitting one of the tire bundles and lost the runner-up spot to A.J. Allmendinger. Almirola ended up clearing Allmendinger by 1.868 seconds to secure the victory.

The win is the fourth in Almirola’s career and first since the 2017 season.

“This is so special, it’s hard to explain,” Almirola said. “I know it’s an Xfinity win, it’s not a Cup win, but after (Circuit of the Americas) I said I didn’t think I should run any more road course races in the Xfinity car. It makes me look like a wanker and I lose self-confidence going into Sunday.

“But this is a track I’ve run good at my whole career. I don’t know what it is about this place, but I love racing here.”

Larson held on to finish third, Ty Gibbs was fourth and Parker Kligerman rallied to finish fifth.

Asked after the race what happened in the Turn 11 incident, Larson said, “I just got too greedy. I clipped the tire (bundle) which knocked the wheel out of my hand and then after that the toe was off.”

Completing the top-10 were Cole Custer, Justin Allgaier, Austin Hill, Sammy Smith and Sam Mayer.

Race winner Aric Almirola, RSS Racing, Ford Mustang

Photo by: Ben Earp / NKP / Motorsport Images

Stage 1

When the field completed Lap 20, Larson was awarded the Stage 1 win as he was leading Allmendinger by 3.2 seconds. Almirola was third, Allgaier fourth and Gibbs completed the top five.

Ryan Sieg spun around on Lap 15 but was able to return to the track and the race without the need of a caution.

Stage 2

When the field completed Lap 45, Larson claimed the Stage 2 win as he continued to dominate the race with a 9.8-second lead over Allmendinger. Gibbs was third, Allgaier fourth and Hill fifth.

Josh Berry brought out the first caution of the race on Lap 22 when his No. 8 Chevrolet came to a stop on the course. Most of the lead-lap cars decided to pit. Hill took over the race lead by staying on the track, but Larson reclaimed the lead two laps later.

Stage 3

With no stage breaks on road courses, Larson was leading the field when the final 34-lap stage got underway.

On Lap 47, Allmendinger and Allgaier were among the first of the lead-lap cars to make their final pit stops under green for new tires and fuel to make it to the finish.

Once the cycle of stops was completed on Lap 49, Larson cycled back into the lead with a 10-second advantage over Allmendinger.

With less than 20 laps to go, Earnhardt went off course in Turn 10 and got stuck in the dirt, which brought out a caution.

Most of the lead-lap cars elected to pit with Larson first off pit road. Labbe, who stayed out, led the way on the restart with 15 laps remaining. He was followed by Daniel Suarez and Larson.

By Turn 4 after the restart, Almirola had powered to the lead while Suarez was penalized for a restart violation.

On Lap 72, Larson – while driving to chase down Almirola for the lead – went way wide entering Turn 11 after hitting a tire bundle and lost the runner-up spot to Allmendinger.

Cla # Driver Manufacturer Laps Time Gap Interval Laps Led 1 28 United States Aric Almirola Ford 79 2:03'28.564 17 2 10 A.J. Allmendinger Chevrolet 79 2:03'30.432 1.868 1.868 2 3 17 Kyle Larson Chevrolet 79 2:03'31.893 3.329 1.461 53 4 19 Ty Gibbs Toyota 79 2:03'34.623 6.059 2.730 5 48 Parker Kligerman Chevrolet 79 2:03'45.198 16.634 10.575 6 00 United States Cole Custer Ford 79 2:03'45.906 17.342 0.708 7 7 Justin Allgaier Chevrolet 79 2:03'46.202 17.638 0.296 8 21 Austin Hill Chevrolet 79 2:03'46.486 17.922 0.284 4 9 18 Sammy Smith Toyota 79 2:03'46.810 18.246 0.324 10 1 Sam Mayer Chevrolet 79 2:03'47.381 18.817 0.571 11 2 United States Sheldon Creed Chevrolet 79 2:03'50.703 22.139 3.322 12 25 Brett Moffitt Ford 79 2:03'51.565 23.001 0.862 13 11 Daniel Hemric Chevrolet 79 2:03'52.969 24.405 1.404 14 16 Chandler Smith Chevrolet 79 2:03'53.519 24.955 0.550 15 98 Riley Herbst Ford 79 2:03'57.788 29.224 4.269 16 20 United States John Hunter Nemechek Toyota 79 2:03'59.684 31.120 1.896 1 17 51 Jeremy Clements Chevrolet 79 2:04'00.921 32.357 1.237 18 91 Ross Chastain Chevrolet 79 2:04'03.293 34.729 2.372 19 36 Josh Bilicki Chevrolet 79 2:04'04.994 36.430 1.701 20 26 Kaz Grala Toyota 79 2:04'06.472 37.908 1.478 21 9 United States Brandon Jones Chevrolet 79 2:04'08.761 40.197 2.289 22 08 Kyle Weatherman Ford 79 2:04'09.897 41.333 1.136 23 4 Ty Dillon Chevrolet 79 2:04'12.086 43.522 2.189 24 43 Dylan Lupton Chevrolet 79 2:04'12.675 44.111 0.589 25 29 Canada Alex Labbé Ford 79 2:04'13.104 44.540 0.429 2 26 27 United States Jeb Burton Chevrolet 79 2:04'20.119 51.555 7.015 27 07 Mexico Daniel Suarez Chevrolet 79 2:04'20.264 51.700 0.145 28 39 Ryan Sieg Ford 79 2:04'20.380 51.816 0.116 29 53 Brad Perez Chevrolet 79 2:04'20.516 51.952 0.136 30 02 Blaine Perkins Chevrolet 79 2:04'25.547 56.983 5.031 31 38 Joe Jr. Ford 79 2:04'39.863 1'11.299 14.316 32 24 Connor Mosack Toyota 78 2:04'32.560 1 Lap 1 Lap 33 8 Josh Berry Chevrolet 76 2:04'23.442 3 Laps 2 Laps 34 44 United States Sage Karam Chevrolet 71 1:52'52.108 8 Laps 5 Laps 35 92 Josh Williams Chevrolet 60 1:56'16.998 19 Laps 11 Laps 36 45 Jeffrey Earnhardt Chevrolet 59 1:32'08.249 20 Laps 1 Lap 37 78 Anthony Alfredo Chevrolet 44 1:10'13.612 35 Laps 15 Laps 38 31 Parker Retzlaff Chevrolet 21 35'02.767 58 Laps 23 Laps

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