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Daytona International Superspeedway can be a cruel and unforgiving host for NASCAR drivers but Friday night it was kind to Florida-native Aric Almirola once again. Almirola grabbed his lone Sprint Cup victory at the 2.5-mile restrictor plate speedway after rain caused the race to be called. The driver of the No. 98 Fresh from Florida Ford drove to victory lane once again at Daytona by leading when it mattered in the Xfinity series' Subway Firecracker 250.

Almirola, who was credited with an Xfinity series win at the Milwaukee Mile in 2007 despite Denny Hamlin finishing the race, believes this win is satisfying because there's no doubting the circumstances of the finish.

"I'm so glad to be back in Victory Lane here at Daytona," Almirola said. "This is such a special place for me. I won my first Cup race here two years ago, and for me, this is my first XFINITY win. I know I have a win, but there's always been an asterisk next to it. I hated the fact that I got credit for that. When they called me the winner, I didn't want any of the credit. (Almirola's then crew chief) Dave Rogers actually got the trophy. They tried to give me the trophy, but I didn't want it. I didn't think I deserved to win the race, because I wasn't in the car when the race was over.
 
"But tonight I was. Tonight we went to Victory Lane, and I'm here, and I was in the car -- so this is my first XFINITY win."

Almirola won by holding off the furious charge of second-place finisher Justin Allgaier when the caution was thrown for what appeared to be a massive wreck on the backstretch involving multiple cars. After multiple reviews and replays, NASCAR Xfinity series officials determined the No. 98 of Almirola was the leader when the caution was waved giving him the win before they made it back to the start-finish line.

Allgaier, who was also the runner-up at Talladega, knows how disappointing coming up short is but believes it was still a good day for the No. 7 Trademark Nitrogen team.

"When you lose them by a little bit, it's frustrating," Allgaier said. "But when you're disappointed with second, it's still a good day. Man, when you're that close, it's really, really tough. We'll keeping digging. At some point we've got to maybe pull one of these off."

Xfinity series regular Ryan Sieg finished in third-place, matching his career best finish set in this race just two seasons ago. Joey Logano led a race-high 46 laps but made the wrong moves at the wrong time and was shuffled back in the field but survived the late race carnage for a fourth place finish. Brendan Gaughan rounded out the top-five with a fifth place finish. 

Despite his 32nd place finish, Daniel Suarez managed to keep a hold on his lead in the points standing over 18th place finisher Elliott Sadler. Suarez's lead is a mere six-points over Sadler heading into next week's race at Kentucky Speedway.

NASCAR XFINITY Series Race Number 15
Unofficial Race Results for the 15Th Annual Subway Firecracker 250 Powered 
By Coca-Cola - Friday, July 1, 2016
Daytona International Speedway - Daytona Beach, FL - 2.5 Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 103 Laps - 257.5 Miles
Leader
Fin    Str    Car    Driver    Team    Laps    Pts    Bns    Driver Rating    Status    Tms    Laps
1    23    98    Aric Almirola(i)    Fresh From Florida Ford    103    0        115.4    Running    2    2
2    7    7    Justin Allgaier    TradeMark Nitrogen Chevrolet    103    40    1    99.9    Running    1    3
3    30    39    Ryan Sieg    tcl Chevrolet    103    38        104.9    Running        
4    4    22    Joey Logano(i)    Discount Tire Ford    103    0        118.4    Running    5    46
5    17    62    Brendan Gaughan    South Point Chevrolet    103    37    1    90.7    Running    1    1
6    14    16    Ryan Reed    Lilly Diabetes/American Diabetes Association Ford    103    35        92.5    Running        
7    18    17    Jeff Green    Carport Empire Toyota    103    34        93.3    Running        
8    27    21    Spencer Gallagher(i)    Allegiant Travel Chevrolet    103    0        68.6    Running        
9    15    88    Chase Elliott(i)    Armour Sandwich Creations Chevrolet    103    0        87.0    Running    1    5
10    3    20    Erik Jones #    DeWalt Flexvolt Toyota    103    31        103.2    Running        
11    24    4    Ross Chastain    teamjdmotorsports.com Chevrolet    103    31    1    88.7    Running    1    2
12    26    28    Dakoda Armstrong    WinField Toyota    103    29        67.8    Running        
13    39    0    Garrett Smithley #    Instalco Chevrolet    103    28        71.2    Running        
14    11    3    Ty Dillon    Bass Pro Shops/NRA Museum Chevrolet    103    28    1    95.4    Running    1    3
15    37    15    Ryan Ellis    Science Logic Chevrolet    103    26        71.4    Running        
16    32    51    Jeremy Clements    BRT Extrustions/AllSouthElectric.com Chevrolet    103    25        68.2    Running        
17    19    44    JJ Yeley    Zachry Toyota    103    24        73.4    Running        
18    9    1    Elliott Sadler    OneMain Chevrolet    103    24    1    89.7    Running    3    11
19    34    52    Joey Gase    Highway Equipment Co./Donate Life FL Chevrolet    103    22        72.5    Running        
20    6    6    Darrell Wallace Jr.    LoudMouth Exhaust Ford    103    21        90.2    Running        
21    1    18    David Ragan(i)    Surface Sunscreen/Rugged Maniac Toyota    103    0        95.9    Running    2    18
22    16    11    Blake Koch    Celsius Thermogenic Energy Chevrolet    103    19        72.6    Running        
23    12    14    Benny Gordon    VSI Racing Toyota    102    18        67.5    Running        
24    31    85    Bobby Gerhart    Lucas Oil Chevrolet    102    17        46.2    Running        
25    35    25    Scott Lagasse Jr.    Alert Tonight Florida Ford    100    16        44.1    Running        
26    8    48    Brennan Poole #    DC Solar Chevrolet    97    15        78.3    Accident        
27    33    93    David Starr    MassimoMotor.com Chevrolet    96    14        75.9    Accident        
28    2    2    Austin Dillon(i)    Rheem Chevrolet    96    0        62.2    Running    1    10
29    13    33    Brandon Jones #    Florida Lottery Chevrolet    82    12        45.5    Running        
30    10    24    Corey LaJoie    Youtheory Toyota    73    11        63.7    Oil Leak        
31    20    13    Mark Thompson    Phoenix Air Toyota    57    11    1    44.1    Engine    1    1
32    5    19    Daniel Suarez    Juniper Networks Toyota    48    9        55.6    Accident        
33    22    90    Mario Gosselin    BuckedUp Apparel Chevrolet    47    8        32.0    Oil Leak        
34    28    01    Ryan Preece #    GK Services Chevrolet    42    7        33.7    Engine        
35    29    89    Morgan Shepherd     Chevrolet    28    7    1    33.3    Rear Gear    1    1
36    25    87    Joe Nemechek(i)    Fleetwing Toyota    14    0        39.2    Accident        
37    21    42    Justin Marks    Katerra Chevrolet    14    4        38.2    Accident        
38    38    97    Alex Guenette    Vroom Brands Chevrolet    9    3        35.3    Accident        
39    36    07    Ray Black Jr. #    Scuba Life Chevrolet    8    2        31.6    Accident        
40    40    78    BJ McLeod #    Safecraft Safety Equipment Ford    1    1        23.2    Engine        
 Race Comments:    Aric Almirola won the Subway Firecracker 250 Powered by Coca-Cola, his second NASCAR XFINITY Series victory. Prior to the start of the race, the folllowing cars dropped to the rear of the field: #78 (unapproved adjustments).  
 Failed to Qualify:    (3) 40 Carl Long, 70 Derrike Cope, 74 Mike Harmon.
 Time of Race:    2 Hrs, 07 Mins, 29 Secs.    Average Speed:    121.192 MPH    Margin of Victory:    Caution
 Caution Flags:    8 for 33 laps: Laps: 10-13 (#07, 97, 90, 25, 44 Accident Frontstretch [None]); 16-21 (#19, 2, 42, 33, 48, 87, 6, 20, 44, 15, 24, 21, 01, 7 Accident Backstretch [Red 7:40] [25]); 25-28 (#20 Spin Turn 2 [48]); 42-47 (Fluid On The Track From #01 [6]); 50-53 (#19, 4 Accident Backstretch [20]); 68-71 (#15 Spin Turn 2 [25]); 98-101 (#93, 4, 48, 14 Accident Turn 3 [25]); 103-103 (#18, 6, 11, 14, 15, 44, 51, 85 Accident Backstretch [None]).
 Lead Changes:    19 among 12 drivers: D. Ragan(i) 1-3; A. Dillon(i) 4-13; J. Logano(i) 14; E. Sadler 15-17; M. Thompson 18; M. Shepherd 19; T. Dillon 20-22; J. Logano(i) 23-44; R. Chastain 45-46; B. Gaughan 47; J. Logano(i) 48-68; J. Allgaier 69-71; E. Sadler 72; J. Logano(i) 73; E. Sadler 74-80; J. Logano(i) 81; C. Elliott(i) 82-86; A. Almirola(i) 87; D. Ragan(i) 88-102; A. Almirola(i) 103; 
Top 10 Driver Points:     (1) D. Suarez 499;(2) E. Sadler 493;(3) T. Dillon 483;(4) J. Allgaier 462;(5) B. Gaughan 449;(6) E. Jones # 442;(7) B. Jones # 429;(8) B. Poole # 422;(9) D. Wallace Jr. 394;(10) R. Reed 366.
Coors Light Pole Award    : David Ragan, #18 180.346 mph    Duralast Brakes "Brake in the Race"    : Austin Dillon, #2 
Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race    : Roush-Yates Engines, #22     Mobil 1 Driver of the Race    : Aric Almirola, #98 
Sunoco Rookie of the Race    : Erik Jones, #20 
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
Next Race:    Jul. 8, 2016 - Kentucky Speedway