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Xfinity series

   

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Celebrating its 75th Anniversary in 2023, the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is the sanctioning body for the No. 1 form of motorsports in the United States and owner of 16 of the nation’s major motorsports entertainment facilities. NASCAR consists of three national series (NASCAR Cup Series™, NASCAR Xfinity Series™, and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series™), four regional series (ARCA Menards Series™, ARCA Menards Series East & West and the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour™), one local grassroots series (NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series™) and three international series (NASCAR Pinty’s Series™, NASCAR Mexico Series™, NASCAR Whelen Euro Series™). The International Motor Sports Association™ (IMSA®) governs the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship™, the premier U.S. sports car series. NASCAR also owns Motor Racing Network, Racing Electronics, and ONE DAYTONA. Based in Daytona Beach, Florida, with offices in eight cities across North America, NASCAR sanctions more than 1,200 races in more than 30 U.S. states, Canada, Mexico and Europe. For more information visit www.NASCAR.com and www.IMSA.com, and follow NASCAR on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat (‘NASCAR’).

 

Sean Gardner/Getty Images

By Holly Cain

NASCAR Wire Service

 

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – It was as hard-earned a victory as the 19-year old Connor Zilisch has claimed in his brief NASCAR career – answering his win from pole position a year ago in his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut at the historic Watkins Glen International road course with a second consecutive victory Saturday afternoon in a crash-heavy Mission 200 at The Glen.

 

As Zilisch climbed out of the cockpit and onto the door ledge of his No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet to celebrate his series-best sixth trophy of the season, he slipped and fell to the ground. Medical teams arrived immediately to tend to him and transported him on a backboard to the trackside medical center.

 

NASCAR confirmed Zilisch was “awake and alert” and that he was transported to a local hospital for further evaluation.

 

The incident followed an action-packed day of competition on the famed 2.45-mile road course that included fierce racing at the front of the field and a 45-minute red flag for a series’ track record 16-car accident with eight laps remaining.

 

Ultimately, Zilisch – who led 60 of the race’s 82 laps -- motored off to a 2.326-second win over Haas Factory Team’s Sam Mayer – that sixth win, one shy of Christopher Bell’s rookie record six victories set in 2018.

 

It was an afternoon of high drama throughout the field.

 

The highly-anticipated competitive duel between the JR Motorsports teammates Zilisch and road course ace Shane Van Gisbergen at the front of the field was evident from the weekend’s practice and qualifying - and ultimately the race. Zilisch claimed the pole position and started alongside the 35-year old former Australian SuperCar Series champion on the front row; something that has become a familiar look for the road racing aces.

 

For much of the day it looked like the final outcome would indeed come down to Zilisch and Van Gisbergen. They raced out front for the majority of the day before making contact with 16 laps remaining.

 

Zilisch inherited the lead and immediately relayed to his crew “he [Van Gisbergen] spun off my nose” and told his crew again “if I wrecked him, tell me.” He was told to “shake it off” and go racing.

 

Van Gisbergen, who will start from outside the front row again in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at the track did not put any blame on Zilisch and said he needed to look at a replay.

 

“Pretty gutted really, gutted for the JR Motorsports guys,’’ Van Gisbergen said. “The car wasn’t great but we still managed to get ourselves in good position.

 

“I haven’t seen it yet,’’ he said when pressed on what happened. “Will watch it later and work it out.’’

 

On the ensuing green flag from the incident, Austin Hill’s No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevy tagged the right rear of Zilisch’s car going into the first turn, giving the veteran Hill the lead as Zilisch gathered his car wide of the racing line. A caution came out immediately for debris elsewhere on track putting Hill and NASCAR Cup Series road racing ace Michael McDowell out front for a restart.

 

Only eight laps after that, Zilisch raced forward from fifth place and navigated around Hill. Moments later Hill’s car had big contact with McDowell’s triggering the massive 16-car pileup.

 

McDowell, the 2021 Daytona 500 winner, took the most dramatic hit in the big accident, sliding hard into the walls on both sides of the Turns 5 and 6 section of the course. Despite the stirring incident in his first NASCAR Xfinity Series start in nine years, McDowell was not injured, however, and gave a complete review of the incident, even offering a smile.

 

“That was unfortunate and I just hate it for everybody at Kaulig Racing,’’ McDowell said of the crash. “We had a couple shots at it and was hoping to get to victory lane but that was unfortunate. … But that’s racing and thankful to everybody at Kaulig. Was trying to do a good job for them there.”

 

Hill, who ultimately finished fourth, spoke with The CW television live broadcast during the red flag.

 

“The 11 [McDowell] had been struggling a little bit in front of me for a few laps,’’ Hill said of the incident. “I thought if I got a big enough run I might could get to his left side and get that position.

 

“I hate it for everyone involved, that was definitely not what I wanted to happen coming back from what we had going on,’’ continued Hill. “All we can do is get it behind us, put our head down and we’ve still got a shot to win this thing. Got to get my mind right for this re-start.’’

 

Zilisch’s JR Motorsports teammate Sammy Smith finished third followed by Hill and JRM’s Carson Kvapil and Justin Allgaier.

 

Jordan Anderson Racing’s Austin Green, Kaulig Racing’s Christian Eckes, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Brandon Jones and AM Racing’s Harrison Burton rounded out the top-10.

 

Three races remain now before the Playoffs. Zilisch and his teammate Allgaier - who each won a race stage on Saturday and remain atop the championship standings. Zilisch leads Allgaier by seven points.

 

With his 10th-place showing, Burton is holding on to the important 12th place Playoff transfer position. He is 30 points ahead of his cousin Jeb Burton and 38 up on Ryan Sieg.

 

The NASCAR Xfinity Series will take a one-week break this weekend before returning to competition in the Aug. 22 Friday night Wawa 250 Powered by Coca-Cola  (7:30 p.m. ET, The CW, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Ryan Truex is the defending race winner.

 

NASCAR Xfinity Series Race - Mission 200 At The Glen

Watkins Glen International

Watkins Glen, New York

Saturday, August 9, 2025

 

                  1. (1)  Connor Zilisch #, Chevrolet, 82.

                  2. (4)  Sam Mayer, Ford, 82.

                  3. (6)  Sammy Smith, Chevrolet, 82.

                  4. (10)  Austin Hill, Chevrolet, 82.

                  5. (14)  Carson Kvapil #, Chevrolet, 82.

                  6. (9)  Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 82.

                  7. (18)  Austin Green, Chevrolet, 82.

                  8. (36)  Christian Eckes #, Chevrolet, 82.

                  9. (13)  Brandon Jones, Toyota, 82.

                  10. (17)  Harrison Burton, Ford, 82.

                  11. (8)  Kaz Grala(i), Toyota, 82.

                  12. (31)  Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, 82.

                  13. (19)  Dean Thompson #, Toyota, 82.

                  14. (15)  Jesse Love, Chevrolet, 82.

                  15. (30)  Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 82.

                  16. (23)  Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, 82.

                  17. (21)  Daniel Dye #, Chevrolet, 82.

                  18. (3)  Taylor Gray #, Toyota, 82.

                  19. (26)  Stefan Parsons(i), Chevrolet, 82.

                  20. (38)  Austin J. Hill, Chevrolet, 82.

                  21. (35)  Glen Reen, Toyota, 82.

                  22. (22)  Parker Retzlaff, Chevrolet, 82.

                  23. (32)  Blaine Perkins, Chevrolet, 80.

                  24. (7)  Nick Sanchez #, Chevrolet, Accident, 75.

                  25. (12)  Michael McDowell(i), Chevrolet, Accident, 73.

                  26. (5)  William Sawalich #, Toyota, Accident, 73.

                  27. (27)  Josh Bilicki, Chevrolet, Accident, 73.

                  28. (29)  Ryan Sieg, Ford, Accident, 73.

                  29. (33)  Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, Accident, 73.

                  30. (28)  Kyle Sieg, Ford, Accident, 73.

                  31. (2)  Shane Van Gisbergen(i), Chevrolet, Accident, 64.

                  32. (20)  Anthony Alfredo, Chevrolet, 63.

                  33. (24)  Matt DiBenedetto, Chevrolet, Suspension, 52.

                  34. (34)  Preston Pardus, Chevrolet, 52.

                  35. (11)  Sheldon Creed, Ford, Accident, 50.

                  36. (16)  Riley Herbst(i), Toyota, Engine, 39.

                  37. (25)  Thomas Annunziata, Chevrolet, Accident, 24.

                  38. (37)  Garrett Smithley, Chevrolet, Engine, 3.

 

Average Speed of Race Winner:  82.102 mph.

Time of Race:  2 Hrs, 26 Mins, 49 Secs. Margin of Victory:  2.326 Seconds.

Caution Flags:  7 for 20 laps.

Lead Changes:  17 among 9 drivers.

Lap Leaders:   C. Zilisch # 1-6;S. Van Gisbergen(i) 7;C. Zilisch # 8-18;J. Allgaier 19-21;C. Zilisch # 22-23;W. Sawalich # 24;C. Zilisch # 25-43;S. Van Gisbergen(i) 44;C. Zilisch # 45-53;P. Retzlaff 54;J. Love 55;S. Van Gisbergen(i) 56-64;C. Zilisch # 65-68;A. Hill 69-71;M. McDowell(i) 72;C. Zilisch # 73-77;S. Smith 78;C. Zilisch # 79-82.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  Connor Zilisch # 8 times for 60 laps; Shane Van Gisbergen(i) 3 times for 11 laps; Justin Allgaier 1 time for 3 laps; Austin Hill 1 time for 3 laps; Parker Retzlaff 1 time for 1 lap; Michael McDowell(i) 1 time for 1 lap; William Sawalich # 1 time for 1 lap; Jesse Love 1 time for 1 lap; Sammy Smith 1 time for 1 lap.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 7,54,00,48,2,25,26,4,39,99

Stage #2 Top Ten: 88,9,41,21,1,11,00,7,8,32

 

Late surge lifts Sam Mayer to repeat NASCAR Xfinity victory at Iowa

 

Meg Oliphant/Getty Images

August 2, 2025

 

By Reid Spencer

NASCAR Wire Service

 

NEWTON, Iowa — Sam Mayer took control of Saturday’s Hy-Vee Perks 250 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Iowa Speedway after a Lap 221 restart and maintained it the rest of the way to record the first victory for the Haas Factory team and the first in the series for Ford this season.

 

Mayer won at Iowa for the second straight year, having triumphed in a JR Motorsports Chevrolet last season. The eighth victory of his career ended Sunoco rookie Connor Zilisch’s three-race winning streak.

 

Driving the No. 41 Haas Factory Team Ford, Mayer edged ahead of pole winner and runner-up Jesse Love on Lap 223 before Brandon Jones spun in oil from Matt DiBenedetto’s Chevrolet to cause the eighth caution of the afternoon.

 

On the subsequent restart on Lap 234, Mayer streaked away and left Love and other pursuers in his wake. After taking the white flag, Mayer was cruising to the victory when Garrett Smithley’s spin caused the ninth and final caution and froze the field, with Mayer in the winning position.

 

“This one’s everything right here,” Mayer said. “First win for Haas Factory Team — that’s awesome. This car was fast all day long. I tried to botch it on pit road, but we didn’t.

 

“I can’t believe it. This is one of the most special wins I have. These guys (Mayer’s team), they love me to death, I love them to death, and we’re just some good ol’ boys trying to go racing.”

 

After finishing fourth in the first stage, Mayer overshot his No.1 pit stall, which sits at a difficult angle around a curve near the exit from pit road. Mayer restarted 16th on Lap 71 but worked his way back through the field and regained the fourth spot by the end of Stage 2.

 

“I missed my pit box, but the car was so good it didn’t even matter,” Mayer said. “We ran up through there—no problem. It was great.”

 

Ross Chastain finished third behind Mayer and Love, with Zilisch running fourth and Harrison Burton fifth.

 

For practical purposes, Zilisch’s bid for a fourth straight Xfinity Series ran into immediate trouble during the first stage break. After winning Stage 1, Zilisch brought his No. 88 Chevrolet to pit road for service, but the front tire changer failed to get all lugs tight on the left front wheel.

 

Zilisch restarted 25th on Lap 71 and initially made rapid progress through the field. As the second stage progressed, Zilisch stalled out in traffic, with his Camaro getting increasingly loose behind other cars.

 

The 19-year-old phenom finished the stage in 17th-place and restarted the final stage in the same position on Lap 130. He climbed as high as third in the running order but couldn’t find a way to prevail during a succession of late restarts.

 

In fact, Zilisch’s car broke loose in a three-wide scenario with teammates Chastain and reigning series champion Justin Allgaier on Lap 214. Contact from Zilisch’s car knocked Chastain sideways into Allgaier’s Chevrolet.

 

With Allgaier finishing 16th, he and Zilisch’s are now tied for the series lead with four races left in the regular season.

 

Burton took a major step toward the Playoffs with his second top-five finish of the season. He’s now 11th on the current Playoff grid, 17 points ahead of 12th-place Ryan Sieg and 19 points ahead of cousin Jeb Burton, the first driver below the elimination line.

 

Jeb Burton finished 29th Saturday after dealing with a cracked track bar and suffering through the afternoon with an ill-handling car.

 

Driving the No. 11 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet after the abrupt release of Josh Williams from the ride, Carson Hocevar finished sixth, followed by Sheldon Creed, Ryan Sieg, Carson Kvapil and Christian Eckes.

 

NASCAR Xfinity Series Race - Hy-Vee Perks 250

Iowa Speedway

Newton, Iowa

Saturday, August 2, 2025

 

                1. (5)  Sam Mayer, Ford, 250.

                2. (1)  Jesse Love, Chevrolet, 250.

                3. (11)  Ross Chastain(i), Chevrolet, 250.

                4. (4)  Connor Zilisch #, Chevrolet, 250.

                5. (17)  Harrison Burton, Ford, 250.

                6. (3)  Carson Hocevar(i), Chevrolet, 250.

                7. (14)  Sheldon Creed, Ford, 250.

                8. (7)  Ryan Sieg, Ford, 250.

                9. (8)  Carson Kvapil #, Chevrolet, 250.

                10. (25)  Christian Eckes #, Chevrolet, 250.

                11. (2)  William Sawalich #, Toyota, 250.

                12. (16)  Justin Bonsignore, Toyota, 250.

                13. (28)  Parker Retzlaff, Chevrolet, 250.

                14. (6)  Austin Dillon(i), Chevrolet, 250.

                15. (9)  Sammy Smith, Chevrolet, 250.

                16. (15)  Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 250.

                17. (36)  Taylor Gray #, Toyota, 250.

                18. (24)  Kyle Sieg, Ford, 250.

                19. (26)  Nick Sanchez #, Chevrolet, 250.

                20. (22)  Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, 250.

                21. (29)  Josh Bilicki, Chevrolet, 250.

                22. (27)  Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 250.

                23. (12)  Brandon Jones, Toyota, 250.

                24. (18)  Corey Day, Chevrolet, 249.

                25. (34)  Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, 249.

                26. (19)  Anthony Alfredo, Chevrolet, 249.

                27. (33)  Joey Gase, Chevrolet, 249.

                28. (21)  Blaine Perkins, Chevrolet, 249.

                29. (32)  Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, 249.

                30. (35)  Patrick Emerling(i), Chevrolet, 249.

                31. (20)  Dean Thompson #, Toyota, 248.

                32. (23)  Thomas Annunziata, Chevrolet, 248.

                33. (30)  Garrett Smithley, Chevrolet, 247.

                34. (37)  Tyler Tomassi, Ford, 240.

                35. (13)  Matt DiBenedetto, Chevrolet, Accident, 221.

                36. (10)  Daniel Dye #, Chevrolet, Accident, 200.

                37. (31)  Mason Massey, Chevrolet, Suspension, 172.

                38. (38)  Dawson Cram, Chevrolet, Vibration, 93.

 

Average Speed of Race Winner:  87.832 mph.

Time of Race:  2 Hrs, 29 Mins, 26 Secs. Margin of Victory:  Under Caution Seconds.

Caution Flags:  9 for 61 laps.

Lead Changes:  13 among 8 drivers.

Lap Leaders:   J. Love 1;C. Zilisch # 2-7;J. Love 8;C. Zilisch # 9-64;J. Love 65-83;R. Chastain(i) 84-124;T. Gray # 125;S. Smith 126-128;R. Chastain(i) 129-207;T. Gray # 208;B. Jones 209-211;J. Allgaier 212;J. Love 213-222;S. Mayer 223-250.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  Ross Chastain(i) 2 times for 120 laps; Connor Zilisch # 2 times for 62 laps; Jesse Love 4 times for 31 laps; Sam Mayer 1 time for 28 laps; Brandon Jones 1 time for 3 laps; Sammy Smith 1 time for 3 laps; Taylor Gray # 2 times for 2 laps; Justin Allgaier 1 time for 1 lap.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 88,2,9,41,18,1,11,10,25,7

Stage #2 Top Ten: 9,20,54,41,18,00,2,25,1,39

 

 
 

 

  Xfinity series

  2025 NASCAR XFINITY SERIES SCHEDULE

 

Date

Race / Track

Saturday, February 15

Daytona

Saturday, February 22

Atlanta

Saturday, March 1

COTA

Saturday, March 8

Phoenix

Saturday, March 15

Las Vegas

Saturday, March 22

Homestead-Miami

Saturday, March 29

Martinsville

Saturday, April 5

Darlington

Saturday, April 12

Bristol

Saturday, April 19

Rockingham

Saturday, April 26

Talladega

Saturday, May 3

Texas

Saturday, May 24

Charlotte

Saturday, May 31

Nashville Superspeedway

Saturday, June 14

Mexico City

Saturday, June 21

Pocono

Friday, June 27

Atlanta

Saturday, July 5

Chicago Street Race

Saturday, July 12

Sonoma

Saturday, July 19

Dover

Saturday, July 26

Indianapolis

Saturday, August 2

Iowa

Saturday, August 9

Watkins Glen

Friday, August 22

Daytona

Saturday, August 30

Portland

Saturday, September 6

World Wide Technology Raceway

Friday, September 12

Bristol

Saturday, September 27

Kansas

Saturday, October 4

Charlotte Roval

Saturday, October 11

Las Vegas

Saturday, October 18

Talladega

Saturday, October 25

Martinsville

Saturday, November 1

Phoenix (Championship)

 
       

 

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