If you haven’t bought into the hype surrounding Connor Zilisch, it’s time to get in line.
The 19-year-old driver has secured a victory at the iconic Indianapolis Motor Speedway, getting around fellow rookie driver Taylor Gray with three laps remaining in the Pennzoil 250, to secure his third consecutive win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
Zilisch only paced the field for 19 of 100 laps on Saturday, including 12 of the final 15 circuits, but truly entered the battle for the victory when leaders Kyle Larson and Justin Allgaier made contact on a late-race restart and slid into the Turn 2 fence.
The WeatherTech-sponsored machine blasted into the race lead, but on the next restart, didn’t maintain the position, which left the young phenom having to fight for the victory again, getting to the inside of Gray’s No. 54 on the backstretch and jetting to the top spot.
In the final laps, Zilisch was able to place the No. 88 Chevrolet just right to cross the start-finish line with the lead, scoring his sixth career victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, and his fifth of 2025.
However, possibly more important than Zilisch’s triumph was the landmark 100th NASCAR Xfinity Series victory for JR Motorsports, making the organization just the fourth to reach the century mark in the second-tier series.
“This is awesome. Those bricks look really kissable and I’m ready to kiss them,” said Zilisch. “One hundred wins for JR Motorsports. Congratulations to Dale, Kelley, and L.W., everybody who has raced at JRM, and everybody who works at JRM. I’m the smallest part of this team, and I’m so glad to be a part of it.”
“It’s awesome to win at Indianapolis, and getting [number] 100 for JRM is cool, too, so I consider this a pretty awesome day,” Zilisch added.
RACE RESULTS: Pennzoil 250 at IMS
Sam Mayer, who sat on the pole for Saturday’s event and led 32 circuits, had to settle for a second-place result, after the Haas Factory Team driver wasn’t able to chase down the leader in the final laps of the race. Taylor Gray slipped back to third, while Kyle Larson and Ryan Sieg rounded out the top five.
William Sawalich, Sammy Smith, Daniel Dye, Jesse Love, and Dean Thompson completed the top-10.
While the event itself was drama-free for the most part, there was one incident inside the final 10 laps, between Aric Almirola and Austin Hill, that might have consequences into the future, depending on NASCAR’s call.
The two drivers were battling for position when Almirola snuck to the inside of the No. 21 Chevrolet and took the spot. After being passed, Hill’s Richard Childress Racing entry turned right, and hooked Almirola hard into the outside wall. Hill immediately claimed on the radio that the incident was not intentional, but NASCAR held him five laps for reckless driving and says that further review of the incident will be had during the week.
With a poor finish for Justin Allgaier, Connor Zilisch suddenly sits 21 points back of the lead in the regular-season point standings. Sam Mayer sits third, 48 points behind Allgaier. Next for the NASCAR Xfinity Series is a trip to Iowa Speedway.
Coverage of the event will be on Saturday, August 2 at 4:30 pm ET on The CW, Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
