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Aric Almirola is set to drive for Joe Gibbs Racing next month at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, ending an absence for the last couple of months that reportedly included a team-issued suspension for an altercation with Bubba Wallace.
The Athletic reported Thursday, citing industry sources, that Almirola was in an altercation with Wallace at a competition meeting that included 23XI Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing drivers as part of their Toyota alliance.
That altercation resulted in Almirola missing the May 25 Xfinity race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Ty Gibbs, who won the pole for that race in place of Almirola, said he found out three days before the event that he would drive the car. At the time, a JGR spokesman said it was a “team decision.”
A JGR spokesman said Thursday the team had no comment on the report.
Multiple sources that would have knowledge of the decision have told FOX Sports over the last month that Almirola’s absence was the result of an altercation with Wallace at the meeting. Almirola and Wallace had an issue a year earlier during the Cup race at Charlotte when Almirola shoved Wallace during a rain delay.
Wallace, for his part, denied to FOX Sports that it happened when asked on May 25th as he was about to leave the room where drivers did their required weekly media availability with reporters.
“Who said that?” Wallace told FOX Sports when asked.
When told that was the rumor, Wallace responded: “Is that right?”
When indicated that could be why Almirola was not in the car, Wallace responded: “No, we’ve had our disagreements before, but damn, that’s crazy.”
Almirola, who retired from full-time Cup competition after 2023, signed in the offseason with JGR as a driver mentor and part-time Xfinity driver. The team at the time said John Hunter Nemechek would drive 10 races in its No. 20 car and Almirola would do the “majority” of the remaining 23.
Much of Almirola’s schedule was set to be in the second half of the season as Cup drivers cannot do the final eight races (the regular-season finale and the playoff races). Almirola has competed in five Xfinity races this year with his most recent start coming on May 11 at Darlington. At that race, he said he was scheduled to do the Charlotte race two weeks later.
Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.
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