Zilisch Sails To Victory At The Glen In Xfinity Series Debut

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – Connor Zilisch made his entrance into the NASCAR Xfinity Series in grand fashion Saturday at Watkins Glen International, taking a remarkable victory on debut in the Mission 200 at the Glen.

After winning the pole in qualifying, Zilisch led a race-high 45 laps en route to the win, but had to squeeze every drop of fuel out of his No. 88 Carolina Carports Chevrolet Camaro in double overtime before he could celebrate.

The 18-year-old’s final pit stop was at lap 48, and if a 43-lap economy run to the checkered flag wasn’t impressive enough, it also completed a rally from the tail-end of the lead lap after a penalty under the second stage break for cutting the bus stop chicane under yellow.

Zilisch was one of three drivers to cop that specific penalty – Ty Gibbs and Sam Mayer were the other two – but it ultimately didn’t matter in the end.

He methodically worked his way from outside the top 20 to second inside of 20 to go, then took the lead for good when Shane van Gisbergen pitted for the final time on lap 67.

From there, Zilisch used every skill in his toolbox to conserve gas, and muscled his way clear of Sam Mayer on back-to-back overtime restarts before pulling away in the final two laps.

Despite questions about fuel, Zilisch’s win was secured when a multi-car crash on the backstretch after the white flag forced the seventh and final caution, freezing the field with Zilisch out front by more than three seconds.

He coasted back around to the checkered flag, then showed he’d even kept enough in the tank for a burnout at the flagstand before climbing from his car and being overcome with emotion.

Zilisch became the seventh driver to win his Xfinity Series debut, as well as the second-youngest winner in series history behind two-time Cup Series champion Joey Logano.

“I don’t even have words for this,” said a tearful Zilisch, who completed a perfect weekend after also winning Friday’s ARCA Menards Series race at Watkins Glen from the pole.

“I had to work so hard for this one; I’ve been working for months [to get to this point],” he added. “It’s so special to me. I don’t even know how I saved enough [fuel] there. It actually sputtered [going] up the hill with two to go, and at that point I didn’t even think I was going to make it back to the line. I was saving the entire last two laps and somehow it worked out.

“One-for-one, that’s not bad!”

Zilisch led the first 22 laps and won the first stage of his Xfinity Series career by more than 10 seconds, then came from 13th to third in stage two after pitting under the first stage break.

It was at the end of that second stage where Zilisch followed stage-two winner Gibbs and second-place Mayer through the cut-through at the bus stop once the caution had waved, leading to the tail-end relegation penalty from NASCAR officials.

But Zilisch remained focused and kept his car clean, picking cars off one and a time over the course of a 27-lap green flag run in the final stage before pure chaos broke out in the waning moments.

A stalled Matt DiBenedetto, who came to a stop in the inner-loop shortcut on the backstretch, forced the race’s fourth yellow inside of six to go. Zilisch was out front at that point but already close on gas.

Though he aced a restart with two laps left in regulation, a four-car melee exiting turn one that collected Austin Hill, Anthony Alfredo and others brought the caution back out and led to a 22-minute red flag stoppage for cleanup before overtime even began.

With second-running A.J. Allmendinger choosing to start behind Zilisch for the first overtime, Sam Mayer chose up to the front row and actually beat Zilisch to the start-finish line on lap 83.

Zilisch forced Mayer wide entering turn one, however, even as Allmendinger was trying to squeeze his Chevrolet up the inside to make it a three-wide battle for the race lead.

After getting the run up the esses to clear Allmendinger, Zilisch was again handily out front when a hard crash between Brandon Jones and Mike Skeen at the bus stop led to yet another yellow flag and the final restart of the day.

Zilisch repeated his restart maneuver to perfection one more time, getting away by more than three seconds and never looking back as a three-wide battle for second broke out behind him.

“Coming into the day, I just wanted to run all the laps … and I did that and came home with the win, too, so I can’t complain about that!” Zilisch noted. “[Driver coach] Josh Wish has done so much for me to make me not just the driver I am today, but the person I am today, so I can’t say enough about him and all the people that have supported me to this point.

“I’m two-for-two with [a Red Bull] helmet, too!” added Zilisch, who was named as a Red Bull athlete on Friday afternoon, “so I guess it’s good luck! Hopefully this Xfinity Series win can be the first of many.”

Sheldon Creed ultimately picked his way from sixth to second over the course of the final overtime sprint, extending his record of runner-up finishes without an Xfinity Series victory to 12.

Allmendinger ended up third, followed by Chandler Smith, who rebounded to fourth after an early overheating issue that forced him to make an extended pit stop after the end of stage one.

Van Gisbergen’s quest for a fourth straight Xfinity Series road-course win fell short in fifth, after he was hit with a speeding penalty on his final pit stop, with Ross Chastain, Parker Kligerman, Jesse Love, Logano, and Josh Bilicki completing the top 10.

NASCAR Cup Series star William Byron, who won stage two and led 16 laps Saturday, had a tire vibration late in the race and had to make an extra pit stop. He finished 12th in the Hendrick Motorsports No. 17.

Playoff hopeful Ryan Sieg, was among those swept up in the final-lap crash on the backstretch, while Gibbs ran out of fuel during the first overtime attempt. They finished 22nd and 25th, respectively.

Despite a myriad of issues that included a broken right-rear shock, Sammy Smith came home on the lead lap in 19th and leads Sieg by 43 points in the battle for the final playoff spot with one regular season race remaining.

In the battle for the regular season championship, Justin Allgaier leads defending series champion Cole Custer by 45 points entering the regular season finale on Sept. 20 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.

The Xfinity Series field returns to action for a Friday night showdown under the lights at Bristol, with broadcast coverage of the Food City 300 airing at 7:30 p.m. ET live on the CW Network, the Performance Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.

Bristol marks the debut of the CW as the exclusive television home of the Xfinity Series. The network will carry the full Xfinity Series season starting in 2025.