NASCAR
Connor Zilisch wins at Pocono with Earnhardt as Substitute Crew Chief
LONG PONG, Pa. – The top rookie in Xfinity Series competition reigned supreme for the first time on an oval. 18-year-old Connor Zilisch outlasted a bevy of restarts to stand tall at The Tricky Triangle. After being second in his last two oval starts, the teenager road racing ace finally grabs a checkered flag. The sky truly seems to be the limit for JRM’s No. 88 team, with Playoff aspirations looming on the horizon.
Polesitter Chase Elliott flexed his muscles in the early laps, only to flip Stage 1. This gave the opening Stage win to Brandon Jones, while Stage 2’s victory went to Connor Zilisch. The No. 88 had team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. on top of their pit box as a substitute crew chief.
The No. 88 held serve out front until making their final scheduled pit stop on lap 68. Not long afterwards, a timely caution flew that gave Zilisch the top spot again, only for him to overdrive turn one on the restart. Falling back to fourth, Zilisch methodically worked his way forward with assistance from a few quick cautions.
A restart with 13 laps left saw Justin Allgaier get loose under Chase Elliott into turn one, sending the Nos. 7 and 17 back and giving the lead to Jesse Love.
Another late restart saw Zilisch get the upper hand over his best friend Love, making the winning pass with four laps left. Having others fight for position behind him, Zilisch scooted away to his maiden oval NASCAR victory.
“I’ve been dying for this one for awhile now,” Zilisch said. “I know it hasn’t felt like that long, but man I’ve been so close on the ovals lately. Finished second at Charlotte, second at Nashville. And yeah Dale Jr., not too bad on the box. Pretty cool to have him up there. Thank you so much to the entire JR Motorsports team, Registix for coming on board, Hendrick Engine Shop, they’ve brought such good power the last few weeks. Very grateful for everybody, Trackhouse for giving me this opportunity, WeatherTech, and Red Bull. It’s an honor to be here and this one’s definitely special. I’ve been chasing the oval win for awhile now.”
“It’s pretty funny, [Dale] was kicking me in the ass on some of those restarts. Gave me some advice, so yeah, I know the advice from him is well taken for me. It was really cool to have him and to get him a one-for-one win as a crew chief is pretty awesome as well. Mardy [Lindley] did everything right to set this up, and I wish he could have been on this box today. But I know he’s with us in spirit.”
Zilisch’s two best friend Love and Christian Eckes finished right behind him, just ahead of Ryan Sieg and Chase Elliott. The rest of the top-10 were: Carson Kvapil, Sam Mayer, Sammy Smith, Taylor Gray, and Justin Allgaier.
Zilisch’s win does not have much impact on the Playoff grid, but the bubble battle has tightened with 10 races left. Take a look below at the current provisional Xfinity Series postseason standings.
Xfinity competitors will be back in action Friday night from EchoPark Speedway in Atlanta. The Focused Health 250 will see Austin Hill try and retain his hometown crown, but many others will try and wrestle this win away from him. The Georgia green flag flies at 7:30 p.m. ET on The CW, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo Credits to Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images
