Aric Almirola takes Sonoma Xfinity win as Larson stumbles

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.

The #XfinitySeries caution flies for Jeffrey Earnhardt and we'll stack 'em up on FS1. pic.twitter.com/45kHbZmk2j

— Xfinity Racing (@XfinityRacing) June 11, 2023

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	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	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	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	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	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	Alex Labbé		Ford	79	2:04'13.104	44.540	0.429	2
26	27	Jeb Burton		Chevrolet	79	2:04'20.119	51.555	7.015
27	07	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	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