Aric Almirola’s Xfinity win at Las Vegas locked Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 19 into the Championship 4 for the owner’s points title. JGR shuffled him into the Phoenix seat, bumping Justin Bonsignore, to chase that owner’s crown hard.

No longer just filling in, Almirola’s runs now pack real weight in whether JGR grabs the hardware or hands it to rivals. Even Dale Earnhardt Jr. is sounding the alarm on this twist.

Owner vs. driver drama

On the latest Dale Jr. Download, Dale Jr cut loose on Phoenix’s quirks. “The stages are super short … the car is not very fun to drive … It’s just a frustrating race to run. … if they did let you kind of … go 80 to 100 laps … that race … should be 300 laps. All 100 lap stages.” Short bursts lock teams into stage-point scrambles and restart roulette, choking out the long-haul rhythm where cars shine.

At mile-and-a-half ovals, tire drop and handling rule the day, but quick resets bury those edges, leaving drivers itching for 100-lap stretches to build real momentum. Junior’s gripe echoes the old-school pull for continuity over constant interruptions, a frustration bubbling in the garage.

He turned to Almirola’s style next: “Aric’s a great guy but … he’s aggressive … So far … I feel like he’s taking it out on people that deserve it … he’s very selective … I don’t think he’s just running into people at all … I think he’s just trying to have fun.” Almirola’s veteran grit shines selectively, dishing out contact where it counts without wild wrecks.

That physical edge raises brows in tight battles, especially as a non-title guy who can play spoiler or blocker, mixing competition with calculated bumps. Dale Jr balances the nod to his buddy’s character with that on-track fire, spotting how it plays in the JGR push.

Adding heart, Junior got personal: “The person that I believe … me and Aric are friends … I’m happy to see him go through this process … these moments with his kids … that’s incredible for him … when he was retiring from the cup car he never imagined having these opportunities … make these memories … his kids are going to remember forever.”

Late-career wildcards like this hand veterans family moments they couldn’t dream of, turning retirement blues into trackside legacy builders. Almirola’s ride revives that spark, crafting stories his kids will carry, a raw reward in racing’s unpredictable grind.

But the real gut punch lands on the stakes: “Now he’s going to go run … the Martinsville in the Phoenix race. They’re going for the points championship in the 19 car. … I understand that, but I worry how that’s going to mingle with the driver championship … I hope at the same time he doesn’t affect the driver’s championship in some negative way … that would be tough …”

Owner points fuel aggressive runs from wildcard cars like the 19, but they can’t tangle with playoff drivers chasing their own crowns. Almirola’s push might clip contenders through contact or strategy, blurring lines in a format where non-title rides still swing outcomes.

Dale Jr gets the owner’s hunt but fears the spillover, echoing beefs like Ty Gibbs racing teammates hard at New Hampshire, holding up playoff hopes without skin in the driver’s game. That tension? Pure NASCAR nerve, where one car’s glory quest could sour another’s title shot.

Dale Jr’s championship jitters tie straight into his bigger beef with the sport’s direction, especially as NASCAR gears up for 2026 tweaks.

Dale Jr. warns real NASCAR fixes take years

On the Download, he dropped a reality check: real change could drag a decade or two. The league’s listening, digging into fan and garage gripes with a points system overhaul on deck and horsepower jumping to 750. President Steve O’Donnell spilled that power bump on the pod last week, but Dale Jr tempered the hype, agreeing fans might not spot it on track right away.

He tackled the doubters head-on, those wondering if point shifts or extra ponies fix nothing fast. “We’re not gonna see it when we watch,” Junior said, framing it as a step toward the right path, not instant magic. Fans fret the ship’s sinking amid slipping ratings, craving quick patches to reclaim peak NASCAR glory from the late ’90s and early 2000s.

But Dale Jr sees it differently: that golden era brewed over 40, 50 years of tweaks, evolution, and smart calls. “NASCAR’s peak was a process of 40 years, 50 years of development, change, of evolution, and they must have done a lot of things right,” he noted. Not everything is perfect, but enough hits to summit.

From there, Dale Jr’s lens on Aric Almirola’s owner chase sharpens the point: short-term moves like wildcard swaps or stage gripes mask deeper fixes needed for lasting flow. Rushing 2026 changes won’t deliver overnight; it’s a slow build-back, prepping for gradual climbs.

“Unlikely that there is anything that changes next year that delivers results,” he warned, urging patience in a sport where peaks demand time. That owner-driver clash? Just one symptom of formats begging evolution, much like horsepower nudges or points debates. Dale Jr’s call lands human, rooting for balance without the quick-fix trap, eyes on a rebound that honors the long game his own career taught him.