{"id":53629,"date":"2025-07-26T21:23:23","date_gmt":"2025-07-27T02:23:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=53629"},"modified":"2025-07-26T21:26:26","modified_gmt":"2025-07-27T02:26:26","slug":"connor-zilisch-wins-third-straight-delivers-100th-nascar-xfinity-win-to-jr-motorsports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/26\/connor-zilisch-wins-third-straight-delivers-100th-nascar-xfinity-win-to-jr-motorsports\/","title":{"rendered":"Connor Zilisch wins third straight, delivers 100th NASCAR Xfinity win to JR Motorsports"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

Connor Zilisch, driver of the #88 WeatherTech Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series Pennzoil 250 and JR Motorsports 100th NASCAR Xfinity Series win at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 26, 2025 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by James Gilbert\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service<\/em><\/p>\n

SPEEDWAY, Ind.\u2014As contrary as it might seem, there was ambivalence in Connor Zilisch\u2019s victory in Saturday\u2019s Pennzoil 250 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Connor Zilisch, driver of the #88 WeatherTech Chevrolet, takes the checkered flag to win the NASCAR Xfinity Series Pennzoil 250 and JR Motorsports 100th NASCAR Xfinity Series win at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 26, 2025 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by James Gilbert\/Getty Images).<\/p><\/div>\n

Yes, Zilisch won his third straight NASCAR Xfinity Series race and added to his inarguable credentials as a budding superstar.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s more, Zilisch delivered victory No.100 to JR Motorsports , the organization founded by Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his sister, Kelly Earnhardt Miller.<\/p>\n

But Zilisch\u2019s victory came at the expense of teammate Justin Allgaier, who made a heroic move on the outside to retake the lead from Kyle Larson on Lap 74 and had the win in his sights until the following restart on Lap 87.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s when Larson\u2019s No. 17 Chevrolet broke loose in Turn 1 and turned Allgaier\u2019s Chevrolet into the outside wall and out of the race.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Connor Zilisch, driver of the #88 WeatherTech Chevrolet, celebrates with a burnout after winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series Pennzoil 250 and JR Motorsports 100th NASCAR Xfinity Series win at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 26, 2025 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by James Gilbert\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

That left Zilisch and Taylor Gray to battle for the lead after a restart with four laps left. With a push from the Ford of Sam Mayer, Zilisch took control on Lap 99 of 100 and held on to win by 0.339 seconds over Mayer as Gray slipped to third.<\/p>\n

\u201cI see some bricks that look kissable, and I\u2019m going to kiss them,\u201d Zilisch said, referencing an Indianapolis tradition started by NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Jarrett. \u201cThis is awesome. One hundred wins for JRM. Congrats to Dale, Kelley, L.W. (Miller), everybody who\u2019s raced for JRM, everybody who works at JRM.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m the smallest part of this team, and I\u2019m so glad to be a part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"

Connor Zilisch, driver of the #88 WeatherTech Chevrolet, kisses the bricks after winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series Pennzoil 250 and JR Motorsports 100th NASCAR Xfinity Series win at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 26, 2025 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by James Gilbert\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Zilisch\u2019s fifth victory of the season and sixth of his career followed wins at Sonoma Raceway and Dover Motor Speedway in his last two starts. With Allgaier finishing 36th after the wreck, Zilisch, who turned 19 on Tuesday, cut his teammate\u2019s lead in the series standings to 21 points with five races left in the regular season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hate it for Justin, because he\u2019s been the cornerstone of company for so many years,\u201d Dale Earnhardt Jr. said of the reigning series champion. \u201cHe\u2019s been dependable, reliable, great with our partners, and he want to do these things for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

A violent accident involving the cars of Aric Almirola and Austin Hill set up the final restart with four laps left. On Lap 91, Almirola looked to the inside of Hill\u2019s No. 21 Chevrolet exiting the short chute leading to Turn 4.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Connor Zilisch, driver of the #88 WeatherTech Chevrolet, and Hall of Famer and JR Motorsports team owner, Dale Earnhardt Jr. pose for photos after winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series Pennzoil 250 and JR Motorsports 100th NASCAR Xfinity Series win at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 26, 2025 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by James Gilbert\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Hill\u2019s car got loose but recovered, then turned left into Almirola\u2019s Toyota, sending the Supra hard into the outside wall.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course it was intentional,\u201d Almirola said after a mandatory trip to the infield care center. \u201cIt was time to go, and I got him loose, and he just turned left and hooked me in the right rear. Honestly, it was one of the biggest hits in my entire NASCAR career.\u201d<\/p>\n

NASCAR held Hill\u2019s Camaro on pit road for five laps for rough driving and will review the incident in the coming week for additional penalties, if warranted<\/p>\n

Larson survived the accident with Allgaier to finish fourth, and Ryan Sieg came home fifth. William Sawalich, Sammy Smith, Daniel Dye, Jesse Love and Dean Thompson completed the top 10.<\/p>\n

Jeb Burton ran 15th and leads his cousin, Harrison Burton, by 10 points in the race for the final Xfinity Series Playoff spot. Harrison Burton finished 18th.<\/p>\n

NASCAR Xfinity Series Race \u2013 Pennzoil 250<\/strong><\/p>\n

Indianapolis Motor Speedway<\/strong><\/p>\n

Speedway, Indiana<\/strong><\/p>\n

Saturday, July 26, 2025<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. (7)  Connor Zilisch #, Chevrolet, 100.<\/p>\n

2. (1)  Sam Mayer, Ford, 100.<\/p>\n

3. (14)  Taylor Gray #, Toyota, 100.<\/p>\n

4. (19)  Kyle Larson(i), Chevrolet, 100.<\/p>\n

5. (21)  Ryan Sieg, Ford, 100.<\/p>\n

6. (9)  William Sawalich #, Toyota, 100.<\/p>\n

7. (11)  Sammy Smith, Chevrolet, 100.<\/p>\n

8. (18)  Daniel Dye #, Chevrolet, 100.<\/p>\n

9. (4)  Jesse Love, Chevrolet, 100.<\/p>\n

10. (16)  Dean Thompson #, Toyota, 100.<\/p>\n

11. (25)  Matt DiBenedetto, Chevrolet, 100.<\/p>\n

12. (12)  Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 100.<\/p>\n

13. (15)  Christian Eckes #, Chevrolet, 100.<\/p>\n

14. (26)  Parker Retzlaff, Chevrolet, 100.<\/p>\n

15. (23)  Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, 100.<\/p>\n

16. (28)  Kyle Sieg, Ford, 100.<\/p>\n

17. (3)  Sheldon Creed, Ford, 100.<\/p>\n

18. (20)  Harrison Burton, Ford, 100.<\/p>\n

19. (30)  Josh Bilicki, Chevrolet, 100.<\/p>\n

20. (27)  Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, 100.<\/p>\n

21. (34)  Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, 100.<\/p>\n

22. (31)  Josh Williams, Chevrolet, 100.<\/p>\n

23. (22)  Anthony Alfredo, Chevrolet, 100.<\/p>\n

24. (33)  Mason Massey, Chevrolet, 100.<\/p>\n

25. (32)  Garrett Smithley, Chevrolet, 100.<\/p>\n

26. (17)  Leland Honeyman, Chevrolet, 100.<\/p>\n

27. (29)  Blaine Perkins, Chevrolet, 100.<\/p>\n

28. (36)  Joey Gase, Chevrolet, 100.<\/p>\n

29. (38)  David Starr, Chevrolet, 100.<\/p>\n

30. (10)  Carson Kvapil #, Chevrolet, 100.<\/p>\n

31. (37)  Dawson Cram, Chevrolet, 100.<\/p>\n

32. (5)  Brandon Jones, Toyota, 97.<\/p>\n

33. (2)  Nick Sanchez #, Chevrolet, 96.<\/p>\n

34. (13)  Austin Hill, Chevrolet, 95.<\/p>\n

35. (6)  Aric Almirola, Toyota, Accident, 90.<\/p>\n

36. (8)  Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, Accident, 87.<\/p>\n

37. (24)  Katherine Legge(i), Chevrolet, Electrical, 74.<\/p>\n

38. (35)  Logan Bearden, Chevrolet, Electrical, 37.<\/p>\n

Average Speed of Race Winner:  104.907 mph.<\/p>\n

Time of Race:  2 Hrs, 22 Mins, 59 Secs. Margin of Victory:  0.339 Seconds.<\/p>\n

Caution Flags:  6 for 29 laps.<\/p>\n

Lead Changes:  10 among 6 drivers.<\/p>\n

Lap Leaders:   S. Mayer 1-32;J. Allgaier 33;A. Almirola 34-35;J. Allgaier 36-51;C. Zilisch # 52-59;J. Allgaier 60-66;K. Larson(i) 67-73;J. Allgaier 74-86;C. Zilisch # 87-95;T. Gray # 96-98;C. Zilisch # 99-100.<\/p>\n

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  Justin Allgaier 4 times for 37 laps; Sam Mayer 1 time for 32 laps; Connor Zilisch # 3 times for 19 laps; Kyle Larson(i) 1 time for 7 laps; Taylor Gray # 1 time for 3 laps; Aric Almirola 1 time for 2 laps.<\/p>\n

Stage #1 Top Ten: 41,7,19,20,88,00,2,17,54,1<\/p>\n

Stage #2 Top Ten: 7,88,17,19,54,20,41,1,2,18<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service SPEEDWAY, Ind.\u2014As contrary as it might seem, there was ambivalence in Connor Zilisch\u2019s victory in Saturday\u2019s Pennzoil 250 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Yes, Zilisch won his third straight NASCAR Xfinity Series race and added to his inarguable credentials as a budding superstar. What\u2019s more, Zilisch delivered victory No.100 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":676,"featured_media":53613,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11],"tags":[905,421,16,181],"class_list":["post-53629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nascar","tag-connor-zilisch","tag-indianapolis-motor-speedway","tag-nascar","tag-nascar-xfinity-series"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/GettyImages-2227165239-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1706&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-dWZ","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53629","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/676"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53629"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53629\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53634,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53629\/revisions\/53634"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}