The NASCAR Xfinity Series delivered a wild ending Saturday afternoon at Phoenix Raceway as Aric Almirola scored his eighth career win in a photo finish.
The veteran driver crossed the finish line 0.45 seconds ahead of Alex Bowman after getting sideways coming out of Turn 4 and sending Bowman's No. 17 into the outside wall. Brandon Jones crossed the line third overall in the three-wide finish.
"I would have hoped he would have given me a lane on exit," Bowman told CW Sports' Dillon Welch after the race. "But he just exited like I wasn't there.
"He was better than us for sure, but just trying to capitalize on that restart and trying to win the race and got shoved in the fence. Race car's destroyed, so bummer for that."
Said Almirola, "I knew I was going to use him up a little, but trying to win the race. I feel like it was warranted.
"I didn't think I did anything overly egregious. I just throttled up and I knew it was gonna be a drag race to the start/finish line."
MORE: Almirola wins, full Phoenix results
This photo finish nearly didn't happen. Justin Allgaier dominated the race while leading 130 laps, and he had a lead of more than one second over Almirola with four laps remaining. However, a blown tire put Nick Leitz into the wall and sent the race into overtime.
Allgaier led the field to the green flag for overtime with Almirola on his outside. Once he entered the restart zone, he took off while Almirola remained with him.
The two drivers ran wide in Turn 3 after Allgaier got loose, so Bowman took the hole between Allgaier and Jones. The field went four-wide, and then Bowman moved into the lead.
The Hendrick Motorsports driver took the white flag as the leader while Almirola chased him down. Bowman wiggled and tapped the wall in Turn 3 on the final lap but continued to lead.
Once he entered Turn 4, however, Almirola's No. 19 Toyota slid up the track and hit the No. 17 Chevrolet. This put Bowman into the wall and caused significant damage. It also took away his opportunity to win.
"I don't know if he had me aero loose into (Turn) 1 or if I just got loose myself, but I about spun out down there," Bowman continued. "Figured my best bet was going to the outside there, trying to get off the corner, and yeah, there was no lane there anymore.
"So, bummer, but you'll have that in big-time auto racing."