Cole Custer, Aric Almirola all smiles after dazzling finish, brush with Indy Xfinity win

SPEEDWAY, Ind. — Cole Custer nearly had a crowning capper to what was already a banner day, and Aric Almirola almost made his first NASCAR Xfinity Series start in more than two months a winning return. They weren’t kissing bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but both were in convivial spirits early Saturday evening after a tightly contested final two laps.

A Brickyard battle for the ages vaulted Riley Herbst into Victory Lane for the first time this year, but Custer and Almirola managed smiles after snagging podium spots in Saturday’s Pennzoil 250. Custer sealed the back end of a 1-2 finish for Stewart-Haas Racing Ford drivers, and Almirola recovered from a wild spin early in the final stage for his fourth consecutive top-five result.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Indy

Almirola interrupted his post-race interview twice — once to applaud Herbst on his way to Victory Lane, and again when Custer walked past with a note of congratulations and to say, “lotta fun.”

“You guys were the class of the field,” Almirola told Custer.

“I thought you had it, though,” Custer replied. “You had both of us.”

It appeared that Custer might have it after his No. 00 Ford got the jump on Herbst’s No. 98 entry through the first two turns, completing the pass on a restart with 10 laps remaining in the 100-lap event and bringing Almirola’s No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota with him to second place. Herbst kept things close, getting back by Almirola two laps later and then chasing his teammate down the stretch.

Herbst brushed by Custer through Turn 4 heading toward the white flag, and their clash allowed Almirola to force it three-wide past the start-finish line and into the lead. Herbst made his winning move through Turns 3 and 4 on the last lap to the low side of Almirola, and Custer scooted through to inch by into second place at the yard of bricks.

“He’s going for the win at Indianapolis, right? I don’t think I would have done anything different,” said Almirola, who led twice for five laps. “I know he kind of doored me getting into (turn) four, but I mean, if not, I was going to put it on his door and try to suck him around or get him loose so I could have the run to the finish line. He did exactly what he needed to do to win the race, so I don’t blame him. Yeah, those guys were the fastest race car on the race track and they won the race.”

Almirola had fresher tires after a Lap 66 spin, prompted by contact with Austin Hill’s No. 21 Chevy through Turns 1 and 2. The new Goodyears helped him mount a late charge, but the moment that put him there was a hairy one. “Thankfully — I don’t know how — I just kind of stood in it, put my foot in the gas and was able to keep it off the wall,” Almirola said. “Did a couple 360s and kept going and didn’t hit anything, and thankfully, nobody hit me.”

Saturday marked Almirola’s first start in his part-time campaign with JGR’s Xfinity program since May 11 at Darlington. Published reports indicated that Almirola had been suspended for his role in a physical altercation with 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace during a team meeting later that month. Asked for confirmation, Almirola said that he understood that questions about the situation were obligatory, but politely declined comment.

“It felt so good to be back in the race car,” he said. “It’s so fun. I love coming to the race track with these guys. They’re just a class act and so much fun to come to the race track with because they have fast race cars. Every time you sit in one, you know you’ve got a shot to win. So this weekend was no different — had another shot to win.”

MORE: Indianapolis weekend schedule

Custer had already made an eventful day of it at Indy, announcing just hours earlier his plans to return to the Cup Series in 2025 with Haas Factory Team. He barely eclipsed Herbst for the pole for Saturday’s race and led the most laps (47), but settled for his ninth top-five result in 20 events this season. The hope, Custer said, was that a more hotly contested final battle between Herbst and Almirola would have provided an opening.

“I tried to lift going into (turn) one so Riley would have a shot at him, because if I would have stayed side by side with them, it probably would have screwed both of us,” Custer said. “So I tried to let him go into one, and then I was hoping they’d get together off (turn) four, and they did a little bit, but I needed them to slow down just a little bit more.”

Custer notched his first win of the Xfinity Series season a week ago at Pocono Raceway, and his teammate now joins him in the provisional 12-driver playoff field. Custer also kept his perch atop the Xfinity Series standings, holding a 56-point lead as NASCAR heads toward the multi-week Olympic break.

“I mean, look at it right now, we’ve won back-to-back races with our team and being competitive at the front, it hasn’t been given to us at all,” Custer said. “Unbelievable couple of weeks. We’ve just got to keep it rolling.”