XFINITY: Connor Zilisch Wins Three Straight; Collects JRM's 100th Win

Grace Hollars/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The conclusion of Saturday’s Pennzoil 250 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway had no shortage of drama, whatsoever, but even amongst the chaos Connor Zilisch continues to put his talents on display against the NASCAR Xfinity Series field.

Zilisch parked the No. 88 WeatherTech Chevrolet in Victory Lane at the iconic racetrack on Saturday, making a pass on fellow rookie Taylor Gray with three laps to go and defending that lead against polesitter Sam Mayer to earn the victory.

It’s the fifth victory of the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series campaign for Zilisch and the sixth of his career in the second-tier series. The win also marks the 100th for JR Motorsports in the NASCAR Xfinity Series – the fourth team to reach that mark.

“This is awesome. Those bricks look really kissable and I’m ready to kiss them,” Zilisch said after climbing from the No. 88. “100 wins for JR Motorsports. Congratulations to Dale, Kelley, and L.W. everybody who has raced at JRM, and everybody who works at JRM.”

Zilisch is the youngest six-time winner in the history of the NASCAR Xfinity Series, after having just turned 19 years old this past week. The victory also marks the third straight for the Charlotte, North Carolina-native.

Sam Mayer had to settle for a second-place result, matching his season-best for Haas Factory Team. Taylor Gray, who led laps late in the going, had to settle for a third-place finish, as he still chases his first career victory.

RACE RESULTS: 2025 NCS Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis

Kyle Larson had a strong HendrickCars.com Chevrolet throughout the afternoon and was battling for the lead late with Justin Allgaier, until the two drivers made contact and made significant wall contact off Turn 2. Larson rebounded for fourth.

Ryan Sieg rounded out the top-five, with William Sawalich continuing a solid run of races with a sixth-place finish at Indy. Sammy Smith, Daniel Dye, Jesse Love, and Dean Thompson completed the top-10 finishers.

Justin Allgaier, who led a race-high 37 of 100 laps, ended up with a finish of 36th after the aforementioned incident with Kyle Larson. Allgaier’s regular-season points lead diminishes to just 21 points over Zilisch, his teammate at JR Motorsports.

However, the biggest source of drama in the race came right after, with eight laps remaining, when Austin Hill and Aric Almirola got into a scuffle that is likely to have implications beyond this weekend’s event at Indianapolis.

The pair were battling for a spot inside the top-five when Almirola made contact with the rear-end of the No. 21, shoving him up the racetrack to get by. Hill’s No. 21 Chevrolet them immediately turned right, hooking Almirola hard into the Turn 4 wall.

Despite denying that it was intentional on the radio, Hill was held in the pits for five laps. NASCAR says they will be taking a further look at the incident and announcing any penalties that will come from it mid-week.

Next up for the NASCAR Xfinity Series is a trip to Iowa Speedway on Saturday, August 2 at 4:30pm ET. Coverage of the event will be on The CW, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.