Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series event at Dover Motor Speedway didn’t need to complete all 200 of the race’s scheduled laps to crown Connor Zilisch as the deserving race-winner.
The 18-year-old rising star placed his No. 88 Carolina Carports Chevrolet at the front of the pack for 77 of the event’s 134 contested laps and had himself out in front of the pack (and pulling away from his closest competitors) when the caution was displayed at Lap 133 for a rain shower.
After about 45 minutes under the red flag, hoping for the rain to stop and the track to dry, NASCAR determined that it would no longer be conducive to restarting the event, seeing as the sun would set in the Dover, Delaware area in about an hour (at 8:10 pm ET).
Connor Zilisch was declared the winner of the 2025 BetRivers 200 at approximately 7:00 pm ET, in what ended up being his fifth win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, and his fourth of the season. The Mooresville, North Carolina-native has now won back-to-back races in the second-tier series.
“Our car was as fast as Xfinity Mobile today, and we capitalized on all fronts,” Zilisch told The CW. “Had good pit stops on both stages and our ourselves in a position to be out front when the rain fell.”
The victory also continues a stellar run of top-five finishes in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, which began when Zilisch returned from an off-week where he was recovering from an injury sustained in a last-lap crash at Talladega Superspeedway.
“We’ve been showing it lately,” Zilisch said when asked about his recent run of finishes. “First of all, I hate that we couldn’t finish the race the right way. Aric [Almirola] was really fast and was going to give me a run for my money, so props to him for being there and making me work for it.”
Making his first Xfinity Series start since Atlanta in June, Aric Almirola came home in the second position. The No. 19 YoungLife Toyota GR Supra had a fast long-run vehicle, and as the first and second stages came to their conclusion, Almirola would be able to run down the leaders, but the final run was not long enough.
Brandon Jones brought home a third-place finish, coming home just behind his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Aric Almirola. Justin Allgaier rebounded from a wall scuffle and having to start at the rear of the pack to finish in fourth, with Jesse Love completing the top five.
Ryan Sieg put together another great finish in the No. 39 RSS Racing Ford Mustang Dark Horse, with polesitter Taylor Gray coming home one spot behind him in seventh. Gray led the opening 49 laps of Saturday’s event, but had a 23-second pit stop that destroyed any shot the No. 54 had of competing for the victory.
Sheldon Creed was eighth with William Sawalich just behind him in ninth. Christian Eckes made an incredible recovery from a poor starting spot and a poor run in practice, to complete the top-10. Harrison Burton put together a solid run, as well, for AM Racing, finishing in 11th.
Jake Finch brought the No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet home in 17th for Hendrick Motorsports in his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut. Finch struggled in the early part of the race, and sped on pit road during what was his first-ever live pit stop, but drove through the pack to earn a solid finish.
Lavar Scott had a similar issue in his Xfinity Series debut for Alpha Prime Racing, but only recovered to finish 28th.
Leaving Dover Motor Speedway, Justin Allgaier was able to extend his lead in the regular-season point standings, which now sits at 56 points over his JR Motorsports teammate Connor Zilisch. Sam Mayer drops to third, and Austin Hill now sits fourth.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series heads to the iconic Indianapolis Motor Speedway next weekend for the Pennzoil 250. Coverage of the event will take place on Saturday, July 26, at 4:30 pm ET on The CW, IMS Radio, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
