Sometimes NASCAR hands you a finish that looks like it was scripted by a caffeinated screenwriter who had just binged three seasons of Formula 1: Drive to Survive. Friday night at Bristol Motor Speedway was exactly that.
When the dust settled—literally, because Bristol never disappoints with sheet metal carnage—it was Aric Almirola who climbed out of the No. 19 Toyota as the unlikely conqueror of the Xfinity Series playoff opener. He didn’t just sneak into victory lane; he muscled his way there by leading the final 34 laps and holding off not one, but two hungry Haas Factory Team Fords who wanted nothing more than to rip the win out of his hands.
Connor Zilisch, who at this point seems like he’s running on cheat codes, once again showed why everyone can’t stop talking about him. He led a race-high 98 laps, casually bagged Stage 2, and looked well on his way to keeping his four-race win streak alive. His JR Motorsports teammate Justin Allgaier wasn’t far behind—he controlled 95 laps, grabbed Stage 1, and together the pair looked set to make it a Chevy night.
But racing is never that simple, especially at Bristol. A late-race caution threw everything into chaos and handed the race to the strategy gods. Zilisch led a convoy of contenders onto pit road. Almirola didn’t blink. Neither did Allgaier. They stayed out, and on the restart, it was Almirola who manhandled the lead like it was his last shot at glory.
“Yeah, just tired of getting beat by those guys,” Almirola said. “I figured I would try my chances with the lead. They’ve been so fast, and they fire off so fast on new tires. I just didn’t think I could beat them straight up on new tires. It took me about 20 laps to get going. I thought my best chance was to stay out on old tires”
And then came the finish. Sheldon Creed, sitting in a Ford with more grip than common sense, muscled past his own teammate Sam Mayer and threw his car into Turn 4 on the final lap. Creed aimed for Almirola’s bumper, but Bristol giveth and Bristol taketh away—he came up 0.031 seconds short. In racing terms, that’s basically the length of a yawn.
“I had to make it exciting at least,” Creed, who had to overcome a pit road speeding penalty earlier in the race, said. “I kind of knew I wasn’t gonna get there. You’re not gonna spook Aric, but maybe if I could have got him to see me and lift, I don’t know. It was more for the show I guess, but I’m happy with a second and to come out plus on points.”
Sam Mayer, Carson Kvapil, and the suddenly mortal Zilisch rounded out the top five, while Allgaier, Harrison Burton, Christian Eckes, Jeremy Clements, and Brennan Poole filled the rest of the top ten.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a playoff opener without heartbreak. Taylor Gray got turned into a lawn dart courtesy of a chain reaction involving Creed and Jeb Burton. Jesse Love, another playoff hopeful, went a lap down after a flat tire forced an unscheduled pit stop, killing his night with a 25th-place finish. And Sammy Smith’s campaign started like a bad sitcom—engine trouble in Stage 1, 56 laps in, and he was done. Dead last in 37th, buried in a points hole that’s going to feel like climbing Everest in flip-flops.
So Almirola leaves Bristol with the trophy, Zilisch leaves without a streak, and half the playoff grid leaves with headaches. Next up: Kansas Speedway on September 27th. If Bristol was chaos, Kansas is a mile-and-a-half that will expose who’s fast, who’s lucky, and who’s about to see their championship dreams disappear faster than a cold beer in the infield.
Greg was a writer for DriveTribe supporting Amazon's The Grand Tour and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, and a Masters degree in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek and a regular contributor to Forbes.
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