Connor Zilisch Racing Photo
NASCAR Wire Service – It was another routine victory for NASCAR Xfinity Series rookie phenom Connor Zilisch, who hit double digits with his 10th win of the season.
Behind Zilisch, it was a chaotic scramble for the remaining five berths in the Round of 8 of the series playoffs.
It was a banner day for JR Motorsports, which needed an unlikely stroke of good fortune to get all four of its drivers into the Round of 8 – and got it.
For the record, after leading practice and winning his eighth pole position of the season, Zilisch led 61 of 68 laps and collected the victory when NASCAR called the sixth caution for oil on the track after Zilisch had taken the white flag.
The win was the 10th of the season for the 19-year-old driver of the No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, his first on the 2.28-mile circuit and the 11th of his career.
“It’s so much fun getting to race in my hometown,” Zilisch said. “The JR Motorsports cars were so fast this weekend … It feels really good to get 10. Double digits is pretty awesome for my first year in the series.
“Now we’ve got to go win the championship.”
By the time Zilisch took the checkered flag under yellow, Harrison Burton, Nick Sanchez and Austin Hill had, for practical purposes, lost their respective chances to advance in the playoffs thanks to self-inflicted wounds.
But the battle for the final berth in the Round of 8 hung in the balance until the moment of caution on Lap 68. That Smith was even in the running for the final berth was the product of a series of remarkable circumstances that began when he brought his No. 8 JRM Chevrolet to pit road with a cut tire on Lap 63.
Almost immediately thereafter, Sage Karam wrecked on the frontstretch to cause the fifth caution, erasing Zilisch’s 10.987-second lead and giving Smith the chance to exit pit road with fresh tires.
Zilisch stayed out under caution, but a sizable number of drivers pitted behind him – enough to put Smith in seventh, one spot behind Gray, for the overtime restart at Lap 67.