Saturday’s Xfinity Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway is A.J. Almendinger’s last Xfinity Series race before moving back up to the Cup Series. Almendinger qualified for the Championship 4 after winning at Las Vegas and on Saturday he will have the opportunity to win the Xfinity Series title. With a possible Xfinity championship and call-up back to the Cup Series on the horizon, Almendinger is cherishing his on-track success.
“So all of this has always been a bonus and I try to cherish all of it,” Almendinger told Newsweek and other journalists. “I think that’s why you see the way I am when I win a race. I’ve spent a lot of years not winning and you never know when it’s your last one. So yeah, the intensity is always there, but definitely certain times, especially this week of just trying to think back and just take it all into a little bit as we talk now, trying to take it all in and just be thankful that I still get to do this.”
Sitting on a stool in front of a group of reporters during NASCAR Media Day at Phoenix Raceway, Almendinger seemed relaxed and almost philosophical when discussing his stock car journey and the trials and tribulations of the racing season. Loose, affable and engaging with the group of reporters, he gave no indication that he has the Xfinity Championship Race qualifying later today and the big race tomorrow.
“You can just have 30 miserable weeks and weeks that you just feel like it’s never going to turn around and you’re never going to win a race again and you win the right one and it fixes everything,” Almendinger.
“And that’s kind of what Vegas did. Of course, I’d love to have 10 wins and all that, but we won the right one. We won probably the second most important one of the year and hopefully we can go win the most important one this weekend.
“But yeah, it’s just the way this year’s been. But I feel more prepared this weekend than I ever did back in 2021 when we here, or even 2022 when we’d won those races and we were trying to make it to Phoenix. So, it’s our best opportunity. Are we good enough? We’ll find out. But it’s not from lack of effort.”
If this morning’s press conference is any indicator he is ready for tomorrow’s Xfinity Championship Race and his confidence is palpable.
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