Road course phenom Connor Zilisch wins his first race on an oval in the Xfinity Explore the Pocono Mountains 250 Pocono Raceway!
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by Derek Jackson
Connor Zilisch won Saturday’s Xfinity Series race at Pocono with team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. serving as his crew chief, replacing Mardy Lindley who is serving a one race penalty for leaving two lug nuts unsecured in Zilisch’s P2 finish at Nashville.
Zilisch, an 18-year-old rising star competing full-time in the No. 88 Chevrolet, was able to capture the victory at the 2.5-mile “Tricky Triangle”, his third victory in the Xfinity series, but more importantly his first not on a road course.
For much of the day, Zilisch’s greatest challenge up front came from former NASCAR Cup Series champion Chase Elliott, who is competing in both the Xfinity and Cup Series races this weekend. Elliott was the pole sitter for the race, and he led the most laps – 38 of the 100 compared to Zilisch’s 34 out front.
Elliott and the series’ current championship leader, JR Motorsports Justin Allgaier were up front on a restart with 13 laps remaining. Allgaier dived low into the turn while battling Elliott for the lead. Elliott had to take evasive action and move up the track not to collide with the series points leader.
Jesse Love took advantage of the situation and ran up from the second row to claim the lead in his No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. A caution came out almost immediately after Love moved to the front and that allowed Zilisch to start directly behind him on that final restart – leaving the two lifelong friends to decide the outcome of the race.
On lap 33 Winston, Georgia’s Austin Hill sustained heavy damage on his right side after being hit by William Sawalich who was trying to avoid an accident in front of him. After major repairs to his Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, Hill was able to rejoin the race and finished 4 laps back in 35th.
“I’ve been dying for this one for a while now,” Zilisch said post-race. “I know it hasn’t felt that long, but man, I’ve been so close on the ovals lately. I finished second at Charlotte, second at Nashville and yeah, having your boss isn’t too bad on the box.”
While this is Zilisch’s first win on an oval, it is his third career win as a NASCAR Xfinity Series driver. Dale Jr. is just the ninth person in history have won in NASCAR as a driver, owner, and crew chief.
“You know the saying I would wreck my mom for the win, but it’s also tough because I don’t want to go hang out on Monday and have him [Jesse Love] mad at me,” Zilisch said. “But a win is a win, and I might be nicer than usual if it were for fifth or whatever, but we’re going to race hard when it’s for the win. I’m going to race the way I expect to be raced by him, and that’s just kind of the bottom line.”
The 17th race of the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series season will take place on June 27 at EchoPark Speedway (formerly Atlanta Motor Speedway.) The green flag will drop for the Focused Health 250 shortly after 7:30 p.m. ET, with coverage on the CW, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.