Aric Almirola makes his Las Vegas 'desperation' known after falling short against Dale Jr.'s defending NASCAR champion 

Despite his best efforts, Xfinity Series driver Aric Almirola fell short of logging back-to-back wins. In Saturday’s (March 15) race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the Joe Gibbs Racing ace finished second behind Justin Allgaier, driver of the No. 7 entry for JR Motorsports, which Dale Earnhardt Jr. owns.

Allgaier was able to hold off a fast-charging Almirola over the final 102-lap green-flag run en route to his first win of the 2025 season. The reigning series champion tops the driver standings with 200 points to his name.

Had Allgaier not aero-blocked Almirola from riding the fastest line, which happened to be the bottom groove, the former Cup Series veteran felt he could have gotten the upper hand. Circling out the same during a post-race interview, Almirola said,

“I think, not being able to wrap the line down in (turns) three and four with no clean air on the car was tough. Just couldn't build the run to him (Allgaier); I was a little better than one and two, but he was definitely taking my line away. I was having to run a lot higher on the racetrack and then in three and four the only lane you could run was on the bottom; the rest of the racetrack was just so greasy.” (3:30 onwards)

With 30 to go, it seemed like Aric Almirola's car was faster. But Allgaier pulled off all the tricks that he had up his sleeve to prevent his fellow racer from passing. Almirola had to veer to the top after that, but unfortunately, it wasn’t enough.

“I probably gave it away trying to run the top to make something happen, but I feel like I was starting to get desperate,” Almirola added.

Currently, Almirola sits sixth in the standings with 151 points to his name. In his previous four starts, the Florida native amassed three top-fives and three top-10s besides a win at Phoenix Raceway that came last week. He has led 77 laps so far into the season.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. fires shots at Aric Almirola following controversial win at Phoenix

Aric Almirola’s win at Phoenix Raceway drew the attention of many, including Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. The two-time NASCAR Xfinity Series champion shared his feelings on the same in an episode of his Dale Jr. Download podcast.

Almirola made a last-lap pass in overtime to win the GOVX 200, but not before bumping fellow racer Alex Bowman twice in the final turns. Reflecting on the same, Dale Jr. said,

“We would maybe expect this out of a young, hungry rookie. Then all of us in our mind would go, ‘God, he’s got to learn to race with more respect. Wins are going to come. He’s talented, he doesn’t need to do it that way’”.

“But this is Aric Almirola, who has ran his entire Cup career,” Dale Jr. continued. “He’s out there like, ‘I don’t give a s***.’ I think a lot of us don’t really know how to think about the Xfinity race. I know that it sucked for Bowman.”

Aric Almirola hasn’t responded to Dale Jr.’s comments yet. Next up for him is the Hard Rock Bet 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Scheduled for March 22, the 200-lap event will stream live on CW, with radio updates on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio from 4 pm ET.