NASCAR Xfinity regular season champ Connor Zilisch sets record with Gateway win
MADISON, Illinois — Connor Zilisch clinched the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series regular season championship with a record-setting win at World Wide Technology Raceway.
Zilisch’s win is his ninth of the 2025 season, setting a new record for an Xfinity Series rookie. He now has four wins in a row in a run of seven wins in the last eight races.
“Every week, I think this run is going to end and it just keeps on going. I’m just so thankful for this!” Zilisch said.
Zilisch led 121 of the 160 laps run Saturday night, including the final 12. Eight of his wins this season have now come in the last 10 races.
William Sawalich finished second but had a valiant effort to try and win to get into the playoffs. He came up a second-and-a-half shy of a playoff spot, far closer than many thought he would after a slow start to the season.
“It is what it is, the 88 was on rails. We didn’t make the playoffs but we gave them a run for their money. I’m proud of the boys for bringing me a good car and we’ll be back next year,” Sawalich said.
Like Sawalich, Christian Eckes finished third and just missed the playoffs after a valiant effort. Kaulig Racing has struggled in 2025, missing the playoffs with the No. 16 team a season after they made the Championship 4, but rookie Eckes put up a strong fight to the very end.
“We executed well, practice, qualifying and the race so it’s hard to be disappointed. We needed more runs like this in April and June, instead of at the end of the deal,” Eckes said.
Zilisch, Sawalich, Eckes, Brandon Jones, Jesse Love, Aric Almirola, Daniel Hemric, Parker Retzlaff, Corey Day and Daniel Dye rounded out the top-10 finishers.
Harrison Burton finished 22nd and made the playoffs with mixed emotions.
“I was disappointed. We’ve run really well at this style of track and I just expected more out of us. To leave it up to chance is not preferred but I’m glad we got in,” Burton said. “Nobody thought we had a chance at this so I’m proud of our group.”
The main AM Racing team finished the 2024 regular season 32nd in owner points. This season, they are in the playoffs.
Below is an archive of the live updates throughout the race.
FINAL STAGE
LAP 152: Christian Eckes to third. He needs to win to get into the playoffs.
Connor Zilisch hangs on to the lead after a bump from William Sawalich and getting leaned on by Aric Almirola. Sawalich 2nd, Almirola 3rd… 10 to go.
Caution flies for debris on lap 144 and gives William Sawalich a chance to possibly be inside on the second row in a must-win situation. Connor Zilisch and Aric Almirola will lead the field to the green flag ahead of Sawalich, Jones, Love, Eckes, Hemric, Day, Retzlaff and Dye.
LAP 142 TOP-10: Zilisch, Love, Almirola, Brandon Jones, Sawalich, Eckes, Day, Hemric, Dye, Retzlaff.
LAP 136: Big crash on the frontstretch… Mayer, Allgaier, Creed, Sanchez, Thompson and others involved. Mayer is destroyed. Creed lost third gear.
LAP 134 TOP-10: Zilisch, Love, Almirola, Brandon Jones, Creed, Sawalich, Day, Eckes, Mayer, Hemric. Allgaier has only driven to 12th.
Harrison Burton spins while running 20th, lap 129.
“That was a hard hit, it definitely didn’t fell good. It sucks but we’ll go to Bristol next week,” Jeb Burton told The CW about his crash.
LAP 123 TOP-10: Connor Zilisch, Jesse Love, Aric Almirola, Brandon Jones, Sheldon Creed, William Sawalich, Corey Day, Christian Eckes, Austin Hill, Sam Mayer.
Neither Connor Zilisch nor Aric Almirola got a good restart, checking up the field. Almirola got the worst of it, dropping to third.
TOP-10 (LAP 120): Zilisch, Almirola, Brandon Jones, Love, A. Hill, Creed, Day, Sawalich, Eckes, Taylor Gray.
Sheldon Creed is officially locked into the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series playoffs. The worst he can finish is 35th and he needed to finish 35th or better to lock in.
LAP 110: Jeb Burton has crashed. This will lock Harrison Burton into the playoffs if there isn’t a new winner. Heartbreaking end to Jeb’s playoff chances.
With this caution and less than 50 laps to go, everyone will pit for tires and fuel. This will be the third set they’ll put on (they have four for the race). Everyone will be good on fuel to the end unless there is a bizarre run of overtime restarts.
LAP 103: Corey Day to seventh over Christian Eckes.
LAP 99: Aric Almirola takes second from Jesse Love. Almirola is 1.5 seconds behind Zilisch. Love got some debris off of his grille.
LAP 92: Aric Almirola takes third from William Sawalich. Jesse Love is now 1.1 seconds behind leader Connor Zilisch.
LAP 86: Christian Eckes goes to seventh over Corey Day. Eckes needs a win to make the playoffs.
Connor Zilisch takes the lead as Jesse Love goes to second over William Sawalich, Aric Almirola, Brandon Jones, Austin Hill, Christian Eckes, Corey Day, Nick Sanchez and Sheldon Creed.
Justin Allgaier will go to the rear of the field after speeding penalty on pit road. He exited pit road third behind Connor Zilisch and William Sawalich.
Austin Hill, Jesse Love, Aric Almirola, Brandon Jones, Nick Sanchez, Christian Eckes, Taylor Gray and Corey Day round out the top-10 behind Zilisch and Sawalich.
Connor Zilisch’s regular season title advantage is back to 21 points. He can clinch it with a top-17 finish. Harrison Burton can clinch a playoff spot with a finish of 27th or better (unless there’s a new winner), 32nd or better for Taylor Gray, 35th or better for Creed.
STAGE TWO WINNER: Justin Allgaier
STAGE TWO TOP-10 (LAP 70): Justin Allgaier, Aric Almirola, Connor Zilisch, William Sawalich, Jesse Love, Austin Hill, Brandon Jones, Christian Eckes, Nick Sanchez, Sam Mayer.
LAP 68: Aric Almirola challenges Justin Allgaier for the lead. Almirola got into Allgaier on the inside in turn three but Allgaier gassed up and held the lead.
LAP 63: Sam Mayer drops to eighth. Christian Eckes is back in the top 10, in 10th. Aric Almirola is slowly closing in on Justin Allgaier for the lead.
LAP 58: Ryan Sieg has slid to 17th after a two-tire call that put him in fourth. Meanwhile, Aric Almirola is closing in on Justin Allgaier for the lead.
TOP 10: Allgaier, Almirola, Connor Zilisch, William Sawalich, Sam Mayer, Jesse Love, Austin Hill, Brandon Jones, Nick Sanchez, Christian Eckes.
LAP 47: Justin Allgaier takes second from Austin Hill and Connor Zilisch with a powerful three-wide move. William Sawalich secures the lead but not for long, Allgaier to the lead.
For the lap 44 restart: William Sawalich, Austin Hill, Connor Zilisch, Ryan Sieg (two tires), Justin Allgaier, Jesse Love, Aric Almirola, Brandon Jones, Sam Mayer, Nick Sanchez.
Carson Kvapil has gone behind the wall with the hood up. He is done, the team said over the radio. Team says he “blew it up going off the jack” on pit road.
Connor Zilisch is now +23 to Justin Allgaier for the regular season title and +55 to Sam Mayer. Mayer is now out of mathematical contention) No change at the cutline… Taylor Gray did pick up two stage points and is now +31 if there’s a new winner, like William Sawalich.
Stage two is 35 laps.
STAGE ONE WINNER: Connor Zilisch
LAP 34: Jordan Anderson slams the outside wall and brings out the first caution. This ends the stage under caution.
STAGE ONE TOP-10 (LAP 35): Connor Zilisch, Aric Almirola, William Sawalich, Justin Allgaier, Nick Sanchez, Sam Mayer, Austin Hill, Jesse Love, Taylor Gray, Christian Eckes
LAP 32: Christian Eckes takes 10th. Eckes and Jesse Love, who took eighth, are on the move. Aric Almirola in second is also under a second behind Connor Zilisch. Harrison Burton has slipped back to 14th.
LAP 27: Connor Zilisch is holding steady at about 1.7 seconds ahead of new second-place driver Aric Almirola. Jesse Love takes ninth from Carson Kvapil.
TOP 10: Zilisch, Almirola, William Sawalich, Justin Allgaier, Sam Mayer, Nick Sanchez, Austin Hill, Taylor Gray, Love, Kvapil.
LAP 24: Justin Allgaier is looking for fourth on Sam Mayer. Further back, in 11th, Harrison Burton is struggling for grip and loses the position to Christian Eckes. He also loses 12th to Brandon Jones.
William Sawalich goes to second behind Connor Zilisch, ahead of Nick Sanchez. Sanchez is third and under fire from Sam Mayer, who needs maximum points to even have a thought about trying to get the regular season championship.
The first stage is 35 laps. The second stage is also 35 laps. Then, the final stage is 90 laps to the checkered flag at lap 160. There are four sets of tires available for the race — three fresh — and the fuel window is 65-70 laps.
Here are the clinch scenarios to know for the NASCAR Xfinity Series regular season finale at World Wide Technology Raceway.
NASCAR Xfinity Series playoff cutline
Four drivers are on edge to lock down the final three playoff spots in the regular season finale at World Wide Technology Raceway Gateway.
Here is how they are ranked in the playoff standings and where they are in relation to the current cutline and the cutline if there is a new, eligible winner:
- 10. Sheldon Creed 662 points
- +34 points to cutline if there is a new winner at Gateway
- Locked in with at least a 16th-place finish no matter what
- Locked in if there is no new winner
- +34 points to cutline if there is a new winner at Gateway
- 11. Taylor Gray 657
- +31 to cutline if there is a new winner at Gateway
- Locked in with at least an 11th-place finish no matter what
- Locked in if there is no new winner
- +31 to cutline if there is a new winner at Gateway
- 12. Harrison Burton 628
- -29 to cutline if there is a new winner at Gateway
- Needs to earn 30 more points than Gray to lock no matter what
- +31 to the current cutline
- Locked in with at least a 13th-place finish with no new winner
- -29 to cutline if there is a new winner at Gateway
- 13. Jeb Burton 597
- -31 to the cutline
- Needs to win or earn 31 more points than Harrison at Gateway
- -31 to the cutline
Creed, Gray and either Burton can also lock themselves into the playoffs with a win. These drivers need to win to lock in:
Ryan Sieg, Christian Eckes, Dean Thompson, Daniel Dye, Brennan Poole, William Sawalich, Jeremy Clements, Matt DiBenedetto, Blaine Perkins, Anthony Alfredo, Kyle Sieg, Ryan Ellis
Photo: Ryan Kemna/TRE 
Photo: Dominic Aragon/TRE 
Photo: Ryan Kemna/TRE 
Photo: Ryan Kemna/TRE 
Photo by Dominic Aragon/TRE 
ROCKINGHAM, NORTH CAROLINA – APRIL 19: William Sawalich, driver of the #18 Soundgear Toyota, Jesse Love, driver of the #2 Whelen Chevrolet, and Kasey Kahne, driver of the #33 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, race during the NASCAR Xfinity Series North Carolina Education Lottery 250 presented by Black’s Tire at Rockingham Speedway on April 19, 2025 in Rockingham, North Carolina. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images) 
Photo: Ryan Kemna/TRE 
Photo: Ryan Kemna/TRE 
Photo: Dominic Aragon/TRE 
Photo by Dominic Aragon/TRE 
Photo: Ryan Kemna/TRE
NASCAR Xfinity Series regular season championship
- Connor Zilisch 924 points
- Justin Allgaier 904 (-20)
- Sam Mayer 874 (-50)
All Connor Zilisch needs to do to clinch the regular season championship – under any scenario – is finish ahead of Justin Allgaier. Here’s an example:
If Allgaier won both stages, ran the fastest lap and finished third, while Zilisch finished second with no stage points, the regular-season championship would end in a tie:
- Connor Zilisch: 959 (924 + 35)
- Justin Allgaier: 959 (904 + 55)
Zilisch would win the tie with eight wins to Allgaier’s three.
The scenario applies to anywhere else in the field. If Zilisch finishes third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth… 37th and Allgaier finishes behind him, Zilisch will win the regular-season championship.
Sam Mayer is 50 points behind Zilisch and 30 behind Allgaier. Mayer would basically need a maximum points day – 61 points – and for Zilisch to have issues while Allgaier lags in performance.
Playoff points battles
Jesse Love (fourth) vs. Austin Hill (fifth)
- Love +38 points to Hill
- Hill can’t earn any playoff points but could shut Love out of an extra playoff point
- Fourth earns seven playoff points
- Fifth earns six
- Hill will not earn any playoff points due to his Iowa suspension
- Hill can’t earn any playoff points but could shut Love out of an extra playoff point
Austin Hill (fifth) vs. Carson Kvapil (sixth) and Brandon Jones (seventh)
- Hill +38 to Kvapil and +57 to Jones
- Kvapil +19 to Jones
- Sixth earns five playoff points
- Seventh earns four
Sammy Smith (eighth) vs. Sheldon Creed (ninth) vs. Taylor Gray (10th) vs. Harrison Burton (11th)
- Smith +2 to Creed, +7 to Gray, +36 to Burton
- Creed +5 to Gray, +34 to Burton
- Gray +29 to Burton
- Eighth earns three playoff points
- Ninth earns two
- 10th earns one
- 11th earns none
- Connor Zilisch 2058
- Justin Allgaier 2034
- Sam Mayer 2016
- Jesse Love 2013
- Brandon Jones 2012
- Sammy Smith 2011
- Carson Kvapil 2006
- Nick Sanchez 2006
- Sheldon Creed 2003
- Taylor Gray 2003
- Harrison Burton 2002
- Austin Hill 2000
- bold denotes not locked into playoffs yet
MORE: Connor Zilisch zooms to 8th career NASCAR Xfinity pole at Gateway
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Jonathan Fjeld View All
Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.
A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.
Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick's final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen's stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers' stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.
Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com