Connor Zilisch, with Dale Earnhardt Jr. serving in place of suspended crew chief Mardy Lindley, scored his first career oval win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series on Saturday (June 21) in the Explore the Pocono Mountains 250 at Pocono Raceway.
He led 34 laps, including the final five after he passed Jesse Love, who ended up second.
.@ConnorZilisch gets his first oval win! pic.twitter.com/0dcCOlAXTk
— The CW Sports (@TheCW_Sports) June 21, 2025
Despite a hard charge in the closing laps, Christian Eckes finished third. Pole-sitter Chase Elliott and Ryan Sieg rounded out the top five.
Carson Kvapil finished second, followed by Sam Mayer and Sammy Smith. Taylor Gray and Justin Allgaier rounded out the top 10.
In a race that was slowed by two cautions in the first 10 laps, Elliott took the early lead and held it until lap 22 when he pulled the No. 17 Chevrolet down pit road.
With three laps remaining in stage one, Brandon Jones took the top spot and held on for the stage win.
Following pit stops under the stage caution, Harrison Burton took the top spot but relinquished it to Allgaier three laps later.
Just a handful of green flag laps into stage two, stage one winner Jones got loose, triggering a multi-car accident that collected William Sawalich, Austin Hill, Daniel Dye and Patrick Emerling.
Big crash late as Aric Almirola tries to get up to the top!
— The CW Sports (@TheCW_Sports) April 26, 2025
Katherine Legge, Brandon Jones and Jeffrey Earnhardt involved. pic.twitter.com/AffmgWb0Ct
Allgaier held the lead until he opted to pit under the fifth caution for Leland Honeyman Jr.’s single-car spin when Zilisch took control of the field en route to his third stage win.
The rookie didn’t pit under the stage ending caution and maintained the lead until lap 69 when he made a green flag pit stop, handing the lead back to Elliott. A caution for a single-car spin by Garrett Smithley and the following pit stops shuffled the field and once again gave the lead to Zilisch.
With just 25 laps remaining, Elliott took advantage of the restart and took the lead once again. It wasn’t until the restart with 13 laps remaining that Love snagged the top spot and held on until Zilisch powered past with five laps to go for the lead and his second victory of the 2025 season.
2025 Pocono Xfinity Results
Next weekend, the Xfinity Series heads to the newly renamed EchoPark Speedway (formerly Atlanta Motor Speedway) for the Focused Health 250 on Friday, June 27. Race coverage begins at 7:30 p.m. ET on The CW.
