Sonoma Xfinity results, driver points

SONOMA, Calif. — Aric Almirola led the final 15 laps to win the inaugural Xfinity Series race at Sonoma Raceway on Saturday.

It is Almirola’s fourth career Xfinity Series win.

The top four finishers were Cup drivers. AJ Allmendinger placed second. Kyle Larson, who won both stages, was third. Ty Gibbs placed fourth. Parker Kligerman was the top Xfinity Series regular, finishing fifth.

John Hunter Nemechek is the points leader after Saturday’s race at Sonoma. He has a four-point lead on Austin Hill. Justin Allgaier is third in the standings, 25 points behind Nemechek after 14 races. Parker Kligerman’s fifth-place finish moved him from 14th in the standings to 12th, which would be the final transfer spot to the playoffs. Twelve races remain until the playoffs being.

Road course racing evolved from exception to essential during Kevin Harvick’s 23-year career. Once just two of 36 points-paying events, as many as seven road courses have been included in recent Cup seasons. There’s even a road course in the playoffs.

Harvick has evolved alongside the NASCAR schedule. People might overlook his road course prowess because he’s so good at other types of tracks. Consider, for example, his 7.3 career average finishing position at Homestead.

The first road course on a ranked list of Harvick’s average finish position doesn’t appear until number 11. That’s an 11.5 average finish for the Daytona road course, which is followed by 11.6 for Charlotte’s Roval. Watkins Glen and Sonoma are numbers 15 and 16, with average finish positions of 12.7 and 12.8 respectively.

It’s almost unfair to compare Harvick to today’s drivers because of the way road course racing’s role has changed since Harvick started his Cup career in 2001. Harvick has 56