Aric Almirola will make his first start for Joe Gibbs Racing since Darlington in May.
The veteran driver will return to the seat of the No. 20 Toyota GR Supra for Saturday's Xfinity Series race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. This event will mark his sixth start of the season for the championship-winning organization.
Almirola originally joined JGR for a part-time season to share the No. 20 with John Hunter Nemechek and run several Xfinity Series races. However, he did not make his scheduled start at Charlotte in May as JGR replaced him with Ty Gibbs.
Questions circulated about Almirola's status with the team as he continued to remain away from the Xfinity entry, but JGR confirmed that the veteran was still set to return this season.
The Athletic reported in June that JGR had suspended Almirola after an altercation with 23XI Racing driver Bubba Wallace. Jordan Bianchi reported that Almirola would return to action for the race weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
There were no additional details about the incident, and Wallace declined to discuss it during the race weekend at Nashville Superspeedway.
Almirola will now get back behind the wheel of the stock car in which he has achieved success in limited opportunities. He has three top-five finishes and one win in five starts. He has led 243 laps, which is the fifth-most in the series. The drivers ahead of Almirola all compete full-time in the series.
This race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway will be Almirola's first time competing on the oval since the 2020 Cup Series race. He finished third in that event while driving for Stewart-Haas Racing. Teammate Kevin Harvick won the race. Matt Kenseth finished second while replacing a suspended Kyle Larson.
Almirola only has one Xfinity start on the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval, which he made back in 2015. He drove the No. 98 Ford to a 14th-place finish.
While the Florida native has limited Xfinity experience at the track, JGR has had considerable success. The team has won four of the nine Xfinity races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Kyle Busch is responsible for all four of these wins.
A variety of JGR drivers have combined to make 25 Xfinity starts at Indianapolis. They have combined for nine top-five finishes and 15 top-10s. They have combined to lead 348 of the 2,389 possible laps.