AVONDALE, Ariz. — It’s no secret that Connor Zilisch and Jesse Love are best friends.
Their friendly rivalry in the NASCAR Xfinity Series had been dominated in lopsided fashion by Zilisch, who entered Saturday’s (Nov. 1) finale at Phoenix Raceway with 10 wins in 2025 to Love’s one.
One of those 10 wins came at Pocono Raceway in June, where Zilisch passed Love with four laps to go to lead a 1-2 finish for the duo.
But on one Saturday night in Phoenix, the tables were turned in a dramatic reversal. This time, it was Love who passed Zilisch for the win with 25 laps to go, and he cruised to the checkered flag — his first on a non-superspeedway — to score his third career Xfinity win and the 2025 championship.
“I just feel so clean, relieved,” Love told The CW. “It’s been a tough year for me. Man, I’ve just put so much work into it. People like my dad and Scott Speed, my whole No. 2 team, have worked just as hard for my dream as I have for my own.
“… It really hasn’t set in yet. I just tried to tune out all the emotion. It doesn’t feel real at all.”
With 10 wins, a series record 18 consecutive top fives and more than 1,000 laps led, it’s a tough pill to swallow for Zilisch to not win the title. During Thursday’s Championship 4 Media Day, the JR Motorsports driver felt that he had “proved what he needed to improve for myself,” claiming that the year was a success no matter what happened.
But once Zilisch exited his car following a third-place finish, he was overcome with emotion.
“I don’t know if you could tell him much that would make him feel better tonight,” JRM co-owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. said. “He is pretty heartbroken. But there is definitely worse days at the racetrack for him.”
Saturday would be a heartbreaking result for anyone in Zilisch’s shoes. One of the greatest Xfinity Series seasons of all time — by a 19-year-old rookie, no less — did not end with the grand prize.
And falling to his best friend did little to soften the blow.
“No, it doesn’t make it feel any better,” Zilisch said with a smile. “No. Good for Jesse [Love], I’m really happy for him.
“… [But] I came here to win, so it still doesn’t make it feel any better.”
In the end, Zilisch had a great car, but not a winning car.
“I felt like we were never the best car,” Zilisch said. “I feel like our pit crew did a really good job. We restart second. I got the lead from second both times. We lead for 10, 15 laps. Every run, we just tanked. I don’t know if I was pushing it too hard at the beginning of runs or what it was.
“After 20 laps, I just couldn’t hang on, just started to lose lateral grip. Yeah, I don’t really know what we fought, but I feel like every run we were the second-best car. Whether it was Justin [Allgaier] or Jesse, we just never were the best car.”
Even while overcome with emotion and disappointment, Zilisch’s performance this season was not lost on him despite the tough ending.
“We have nothing to hang our heads about,” Zilisch said. “We were the best car for two-thirds of the year. We dominated until these last three races.
“Yeah, it cost us a championship, so … We’ll keep our heads high. We are walking home with more than three times as many trophies as anybody else. We won the most races, had the most top 10s, top fives, poles. There’s no reason we should be upset because of this outcome.”
And with a full-time NASCAR Cup Series ride for Trackhouse Racing in 2026, there’s a lot for Zilisch to look forward to. Once he’s finished processing Saturday night, that disappointment will be rechanneled into determination.
“I don’t have a NASCAR championship, so that’s something I definitely got to get in the future,” Zilisch said. “Hopefully, that will be a Cup championship one day. I’ll look back on this as a little tidbit and a little bump in the road. That’s something that I can be excited about is next year.”
Next year. At this point, focusing on next year is all he can do.
Stephen Stumpf is the NASCAR Content Director for Frontstretch and is a three-year veteran of the site. His weekly column is “Stat Sheet,” and he formerly wrote "4 Burning Questions" for three years. He also writes commentaries, contributes to podcasts, edits articles and is frequently at the track for on-site coverage.
Find Stephen on Twitter @stephen_stumpf
I’ve read several articles about last night’s race and your article is the exception. Many paint Connor as some entitled jerk who arrogantly believed that the race was his. Nothing could be further from the truth. The reason this kid is good is because he isn’t that. He has the confidence of any successful race driver, but I have seen any negative side. The tone of most article (not your’s) is negative. This team kicked everyone’s butt this year and lost the finale…a product of this half-(rear end)ed nonsense of creating a ‘game 7 moment’ than fans are supposed to flock to…well they did, except it was Game 7 of the World Series.
This polite, 19 year old has the chance to be that charismatic hero that attracts younger fans. Thank you for at least having the intellect to paint Connor as a great guy who’s disappointed….just like 36 others were and not some spoiled brat who got what he deserved. Next year maybe a 20 year old makes the Playoffs as a rookie.