Getty Image / Joe Scarnici
When Aric Almirola was removed from the No. 20 car by Joe Gibbs Racing in the week leading up to the May 25 Xfinity Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway rumors began to swirl as to why they’d remove Almirola who has 1 win and 3 top 5 finishes this season.
Now a new report from Jordan Bianchi of the Athletic appears to have shed some light on the situation and it’s a bit more dramatic than anyone expected. The report claims a physical altercation between Bubba Wallace and Aric Almirola led to Aric’s suspension and that it wasn’t Bubba who was the instigator/aggressor in the situation.
According to the report, the physical altercation came early in the week ahead of the May 25 Xfinity Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway during a competition meeting that included both JGR and 23XI Racing drivers and teams, as Toyota supports both teams.
This wouldn’t be the first time Aric Almirola and Bubba Wallace had gotten into it. This incident occurred back in May 2023 between the two drivers:
Aric Almirola vs Bubba Wallace
🥊🥊🥊— Will Kunkel (@WillKunkelFOX) May 29, 2023
The insider source that spoke to the Athletic didn’t divulge what sparked the flame but said that it’s believed Bubba Wallace was not the instigator in the situation. Nor did they divulge how serious the ‘physical altercation’ got before things were broken up.
Aric Almirola is currently sitting in 26th in the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series Standings and the cutoff for the Xfinish Series Playoffs is the top 12 so missing a race definitely impacted his chances of earning a spot in the playoffs.
There are 8 races left in the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series before the playoffs being, however, so Aric Almirola has a chance to get into contention. He is currently sitting at 202 points with 1 win and 3 top 5’s. Sammy Smith is the first man out with 415 points with 0 wins, 3 top 5s, and 9 top 10s.
What Almirola has been unable to do this season is finish inside the top 10 and accrue points. He has been all or nothing as one of two drivers outside the top 12 with a win this season.
Similarly, Bubba Wallace is sitting on the cusp of playoffs contention. Wallace is 17th in the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Standings and the top 16 drivers make the playoffs. Wallace only has 3 top 5’s this season and 5 top 10’s so he has some work to do in the next 8 races before the cut-off for the playoffs if he wants to get in.