Zilisch Snags First Oval Pole In Martinsville Xfinity Drills

Connor Zilisch celebrates his NASCAR Xfinity Series pole at Martinsville Speedway. (Scotte Sprinkle/Race Face Digital photo)

MARTINSVILLE, Va. – NASCAR Xfinity Series rookie sensation Connor Zilisch has been chasing his first strand of statistical success on an oval, and he found it Friday in qualifying at Martinsville Speedway.

Zilisch sped to his first oval-track pole position with a time of 19.888 seconds (95.213 mph) in the No. 88 Carolina Carports Chevrolet, going out late in the time-trial session and grabbing the third pole of his Xfinity Series career.

It’s the 38th pole all-time for JR Motorsports, as well as the team’s second at Martinsville and third this season. Two of the three JRM poles in 2025 have been courtesy of Zilisch.

“Man, last time I was here in the Truck (Series), I think I qualified 27th, so I went completely from one end of the spectrum to the other,” Zilisch laughed after qualifying. “I’m so proud of this entire JR Motorsports team; we’ve had fast cars at the racetrack every week … and the hope now is that we can be strong when the track rubbers up tomorrow, just like we were strong for one fast lap today.

“I just had to hit my marks, because this place is so easy to overdrive, so that was my main focus and it ultimately paid off on the stopwatch.”

He’s converted the previous two – both on road courses – into victories at the end of the day, but Zilisch acknowledges this time will be tougher if he wants to keep that statistic alive.

“I feel like we just have to take the track position we’ve earned to start the race and stay up front throughout,” said the talented teenager. “I didn’t do that at Watkins Glen (in 2024) or COTA (this year) and had to work extra hard to come back through (the field), so hopefully I can actually use this pole to my advantage and keep myself in contention the whole day.

“I think if we can do that, we’ll definitely have a shot at the win,” he added. “The JRM cars are so fast and it’s been so much fun already this season racing with all my teammates. Now it’s all about putting all the pieces together on raceday.”

Joining Zilisch on the front row Saturday is one of his teammates in Carson Kvapil, who put the No. 1 Roto-Rooter Chevrolet second with a best lap of 19.914 seconds (95.089 mph).

Kvapil won last year’s ValleyStar Credit Union 300 late model stock car race at Martinsville and hopes to add another grandfather clock trophy to his collection this weekend with his maiden Xfinity Series win.

Richard Childress Racing teammates Austin Hill (19.989/94.732) and Jesse Love (20.041/94.486) share row two, followed by AM Racing’s Harrison Burton, who posted his best start of the season in fifth place.

Defending series champion Justin Allgaier, Brandon Jones, series debutant Corey Day, rookie Daniel Dye, and Sammy Smith closed the top 10 starters. All four JRM Chevrolets qualified inside the top 10.

Notables starting deeper in the lineup include two-time defending Martinsville Xfinity winner Aric Almirola (15th), the Haas Factory Team duo of Sam Mayer (16th) and Sheldon Creed (18th), Myatt Snider (21st), and Josh Williams (26th), who continues his steady recovery from lingering pneumonia.

With 40 drivers entered for 38 starting spots, Dawson Cram and Tyler Tomassi failed to qualify.

Broadcast coverage of Saturday’s Marine Corps 250 is slated for 5 p.m. ET, live on The CW, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.