XFINITY: Connor Zilisch Takes Pole on Flat Tire; Kahne 4th; Legge DNQs

Connor Zilisch took the pole position for Saturday's NASCAR Xfinity Series North Carolina Education Lottery 250 at Rockingham Speedway with a 22.630 second lap time.

Zilisch suffered a flat tire during his lap, which will result in him dropping to the rear of the field before the green flag due to unapproved adjustments for the tire change. Having to drop to the rear after recording the fastest lap in qualifying was deflating for the 18-year-old driver.

"It went flat right off of [Turn] 4. Frustrating, you know, you qualify on the pole and to start at the back is a little frustrating. But the WeatherTech Chevrolet is as fast as Xfinity Mobile. It was really good in practice yesterday."

While Zilisch has a fast car, the expectation is that passing will be a tough proposition on Saturday afternoon due to the pavement, which is still being broken in at Rockingham Speedway.

"Hopefully, the track will widen out a little bit, and make my job a little bit easier," Zilisch said. "But it could be tough. This place is -- nobody knows. Anything can happen."

Parker Retzlaff came up just 0.001 seconds shy of his third career NASCAR Xfinity Series pole position, and first of his tenure with Alpha Prime Racing. Being so close to the pole position and missing out cut Retzlaff like a knife.

"Definitely the most painful qualifying of my life," Retzlaff said. "I thought we had it. It's just painful to qualify second at a place we're coming back to for the first time in a while. But I feel good, and feel like we have something to look forward to here."

Nick Sanchez, a Rookie of the Year contender who drives for Big Machine Racing, qualified in third, and will actually move onto the front row alongside Retzlaff when Zilisch drops to the rear.

Kasey Kahne, making his first NASCAR National Series start in nearly seven years, will start from the fourth position after recording a great qualifying lap early in Saturday's qualifying session.

The 45-year-old driver of the No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet indicated in a press conference on Friday that he is open to additional NASCAR starts, provided this weekend goes well. So far, so good for Kahne.

William Sawalich, who has suffered through a rough rookie campaign through the opening nine races, will start from the fifth position on Saturday at Rockingham.

Brandon Jones, Jesse Love, Justin Allgaier, Christian Eckes, and Austin Hill rounded out the top-10 qualifers for the race.

Katherine Legge was looking to make her first NASCAR Xfinity Series start of the season, but after clocking in with a lap time in the bottom eight of the session, she failed to make it into the starting lineup due to the ranking of her No. 32 Jordan Anderson Racing team in the NASCAR Xfinity Series owner point standings.

Legge, and Dawson Cram were the two drivers, who failed to make the race.

Following qualifying, Legge's Jordan Anderson Racing team reached an agreement with Joey Gase Motorsports to swap Legge into the No. 53 Chevrolet for Saturday's NASCAR Xfinity Series race.

JJ Yeley had qualified 31st-fastest in the No. 53 entry, but will not race as Legge will move into the car in place of Yeley.

Here is the official starting lineup for the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series North Carolina Education Lottery 250 at Rockingham Speedway. Race 10 of 33.

Pos	Car	Driver	Lap time
1	88	Connor Zilisch	22.630
2	4	Parker Retzlaff	22.631
3	48	Nick Sanchez #	22.683
4	33	Kasey Kahne	22.720
5	18	William Sawalich #	22.731
6	20	Brandon Jones	22.753
7	2	Jesse Love	22.769
8	7	Justin Allgaier	22.806
9	16	Christian Eckes #	22.825
10	21	Austin Hill	22.842
11	41	Sam Mayer	22.881
12	39	Ryan Sieg	22.888
13	8	Sammy Smith	22.894
14	99	Matt DiBenedetto	22.931
15	54	Taylor Gray #	22.981
16	51	Jeremy Clements	22.984
17	00	Sheldon Creed	22.996
18	26	Dean Thompson #	23.010
19	19	Justin Bonsignore	23.015
20	70	Thomas Annunziata	23.017
21	11	Josh Williams	23.019
22	27	Jeb Burton	23.072
23	71	Ryan Ellis	23.104
24	31	Blaine Perkins	23.104
25	1	Carson Kvapil #	23.151
26	91	Josh Bilicki	23.165
27	10	Daniel Dye #	23.167
28	44	Brennan Poole	23.231
29	25	Harrison Burton	23.272
30	5	Kris Wright	23.280
31	53	JJ Yeley (i)	23.291
32	87	Austin Green	23.304
33	14	Garrett Smithley	23.324
34	42	Anthony Alfredo	23.368
35	28	Kyle Sieg	23.491
36	45	Vicente Salas	23.507
37	07	Patrick Emerling	23.703
38	35	Greg Van Alst	24.713
DNQ	32	Katherine Legge (i)	23.397
DNQ	74	Dawson Cram (i)	23.590

# indicates Rookie of the Year contenders
(i) indicates drivers ineligible to score NASCAR Xfinity Series points

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