eric almirola held against Connor ZylischEarned his tenth career win and his third of the 2025 season. The ex-Cup driver took the lead when Zilich was chasing a loose race car and faltered in Turn 2, with both cars making door-to-door contact down the backstretch as Almirola moved ahead. Zilich tried to respond, but his car went out of control and Almirola managed to hang on.
“Thank God, it’s an incredible opportunity,” Almirola said. “Thanks Coach (Gibbs). It’s a huge honor to race for an owner’s championship with J.D. Gibbs’ name on the car. I’m having so much fun. It’s the time of my life, man. Our car was good, but the longer I drove, the tighter it got. On the restart from there, I got incredibly tight. I couldn’t go. The #48 (Nick Sanchez) slowed my pace, And finally I got away from him and could go chase #88 (Zilish). He looked quite loose and I was able to take advantage of it.
Zilish finished second Justin Allgaier third, corey day fourth, and nick sanchez Fifth. It was Day’s first career top-five finish in only his ninth career start.
jessie loveJoe, who finished sixth after leading the race for the win for most of the race, engaged in heated conversation on pit road after the race.
Step 1 and 2
Allgaier started the race from pole position, and the first caution of the race was for debris. On the restart, Love made it three-wide for the lead, but was unsuccessful. Almirola won the stage, with Zylisch close behind and Love in third.
In the second stage, Love won the off pit road race, but Almirola took the lead as the race restarted.
There was some tension between the contact between Zylisch and Love, as well as between Allgaier and Hill. Later, Hill made an incredible save in Turn 3 as his car got stuck sideways right behind Sieg.
Almirola won all stages, but this time, Love finished second and Zilisch finished third.
step 3
Almirola seized the lead from Zylisch with 94 laps remaining, but was later beaten by Love, who took the lead with 59 laps remaining. The leaders clashed shortly thereafter and Almirola aggressively passed Love as they raced towards the entry to pit road.
However, it was a short-lived victory as Love regained the top spot with a spectacular pit stop.
It became a three-way battle for the lead between Love, Zilisch and Almirola. With 30 runs left, Zylisch finally cut Love loose in traffic and took the lead, only for the caution to fly immediately. dean thompson Turned back into the pack.
Love lost another position on pit road as Almirola snuck ahead of him, and he only moved to the back when the race restarted.
The final restart of the race took place with 23 laps to go, and Zylisch escaped cleanly. However, Almirola stayed close, leading the fight all the way to win the race.
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