NASCAR
Seas Part for Connor Zilisch, Historic JRM win at Indianapolis
SPEEDWAY, Ind. – The improbable and stunning summer run continues for Connor Zilisch. Nine-straight top-fives for the teenager are now punctuated by three consecutive Xfinity wins. Indianapolis was perhaps his most impressive showing yet, having to fight off multiple cars late to deliver JR Motorsports a milestone victory. The Dale Jr-owned Xfinity powerhouse has now joined the century club with their 100th series win.
From the pole, Sam Mayer led all of Stage 1. Justin Allgaier took command early in Stage 2 and fought back for this win by a nose over teammate Connor Zilisch.
Stage 3 initially saw Kyle Larson take command from the 7, but Allgaier stormed back by on a restart.
Following a brief rain shower, the race resumed with 14 laps left. When the pack hit turn two, Larson’s No. 17 drifted wide and sent Allgaier hard into the outside wall. Both dominant cars of the day were seemingly out of contention, as Allgaier had terminal damage. This exchange gave the lead to the 88 of Connor Zilisch, days after his 19th birthday.
As laps ticked by another massive incident soon unfolded up front. Racing for a spot in the top-five, contact was made between Aric Almirola and Austin Hill. After the 19 shoved the 21 out of the way in the north chute, Hill appeared to retaliate and right-rear hook Almirola into the outside wall. Both cars had severe damage after this melee, with Hill parked five laps by NASCAR for rough driving. Any further penalties from this moment are TBD.
A four-lap dash to the checkers initially saw Taylor Gray get the upper hand over Zilisch, but the 88 came storming back by with two to go. Zilisch’s summer run remains unmatched and his winning ways continued with kissing the bricks.
“This is awesome, those bricks look really kissable, and I’m ready to kiss them” said Zilisch. “Man this is awesome, 100 wins for JRM. Congrats to Dale, Kelley, LW, everybody who’s raced or worked for JRM. I’m the smallest part of this team and man I’m glad to be part of it. It’s been such an awesome journey with JRM, so cool to get them 100. Winning at Indy is awesome, 100 wins for JRM is really cool too, I consider this a pretty awesome day.”
“I don’t even have words to explain how much this means. I know it probably means more to Dale and Kelley, and the people who have been around for over 10 years and built this team into what it is. It truly is a powerhouse and I’m glad to be a part of it. Dale’s over there waving the flag, I’m ready to celebrate with him and congratulate him.”
“[Racing Taylor Gray] the second time I got a push from behind and it helped me clear him. It was actually really racy, you were able to pack air and make moves. It was really cool. Winning at Indy has always been a dream of mine, I’ve been on the podium here, been here twice before, but kissing those bricks will be pretty special.”
Sam Mayer also got by Taylor Gray on the run to the checkers, they just beat out Kyle Larson and Ryan Sieg. The rest of the top-10 were: William Sawalich, Sammy Smith, Daniel Dye, Jesse Love, and Dean Thompson.
Xfinity Series teams will be back in action Saturday from Iowa Speedway. The HyVee Perks 250 goes green at 4:30 p.m. ET on The CW, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. Zilisch will try and chase an improbably four-peat on the tight short track.
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo Credits to James Gilbert/Getty Images
