Love upsets friend Zilisch for 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Championship
AVONDALE, Ariz. — Jesse Love upset season-long favorite Connor Zilisch to win the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series championship Saturday night at Phoenix Raceway.
Love took his No. 2 car to the front with 25 laps to go, passing Connor Zilisch for a fitting win No. 2 of the 2025 season to claim the crown.
“I just feel so clean, relieved. It’s been a tough year for me. Man, I’ve just put so much work into it. People like my dad and Scott Speed, my whole 2 team, have worked just as hard for my dream as I have for my own,” Love said tearfully on the frontstretch. “It really hasn’t set in yet. I just tried to tune out all the emotion. It doesn’t feel real at all.”
Love struggled early on in the race, fighting for grip in the first stage and hanging on in the second stage. Then, as the lights came on in the final stage, Love and his pit crew didn’t flinch. Some stellar stops vaulted him to the front row and let him keep a close eye on the championship favorites as they fell back to him during the longer runs.
With 42 laps to go, it was his best friend and 10-time winner Connor Zilisch he had to work over. Finally, with 25 to go, he completed the pass with a big move in turn three that allowed him to claim the crown over Zilisch in the end.
“Yeah, he’s my best friend in the whole world, but not when we’re racing each other,” Love said. “We race each other hard, but fair. Yeah, I had to take it through. I knew he was going to put in my door. I knew I had to throttle up and just get my nose ahead. He was running a really good race. My car was just better tonight and allowed me to roll off the center and get off the corner better.
“Hats off to the 88 team and Connor for all they’ve done this year. Tonight, I can’t even believe it, you know?”
Zilisch scored 10 wins on the season, set a new record for most consecutive top-five finishes in the series and also led the series in wins and average finish — but settled for second in the championship after finishing behind Love in Saturday night’s race.
Zilisch’s No. 88 JR Motorsports team also finished second in the owner’s championship. Ultimately, all the young driver has to show for breaking records was a relative consolation prize of winning Rookie of the Year in 2025.
The No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing team took home the owner’s championship. Aric Almirola finished second in the race and claim what he described as “the biggest accomplishment” of his career.
:TOP-10 (LAP 200): Jesse Love*, Aric Almirola*, Connor Zilisch*, Brandon Jones, Justin Allgaier*, Sammy Smith, Tanner Gray, Sheldon Creed, Austin Hill, Justin Bonsignore.
Allgaier led three times for 83 of the first 153 laps and was strong out in front, effectively playing defense against Love. However, pit road was a weakness as he lost the lead with a slower pit stop on lap 154.
Allgaier ultimately had to settle for fifth after Almirola and Jones passed him.
Three bullets in the chamber was ultimately not enough for JRM as Carson Kvapil also lost his 2025 championship bid.
Kvapil finished 13th on the night and fourth in the championship. His car was strong when the sun was still up but stagnated at night.
Kvapil will return to JRM for some races in another bid for the championship to dethrone Jesse Love.
Jesse Love earned the 2025 championship with two wins, nine top-five finishes, 22 top-10 finishes and four poles in the 33-race season. He is the 35th different champion in the 44-year history of the series.
Below is an archive of the live race updates from the NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway:
FINAL STAGE
LAP 191: Nine to go and Love’s lead extends to 1.2 seconds.
LAP 188: 12 laps to go. Love’s lead extends to about a second over 2nd-place Connor Zilisch. Allgaier is fourth, over 5 seconds back.
LAP 180: Love has pulled away to a half-second lead over Zilisch. 20 to go.
LAP 176: Love clears Zilisch for the lead at the Start/Finish Line. 24 to go.
LAP 175: He’s there! Love has closed the gap to about a car length behind Zilisch.
LAP 173: Zilisch’s lead is about a third-of-a-second over Love. 27 to go.
LAP 166: Zilsch has about a half-second lead over Jesse Love, who has moved to second.
LAP 160: Zilisch extends his lead to roughly 0.2 seconds over Almirola. Love third, Allgaier fourth.
LAP 158: Connor Zilisch takes the lead from Jesse Love after the restart! Almirola to second.
LAP 154 OFF PIT ROAD: Jesse Love, Connor Zilisch, Aric Almirola, Sammy Smith, Justin Allgaier, Brandon Jones, Christian Eckes, Corey Day, Sheldon Creed, Harrison Burton.
LAP 152: Oh no! Ryan Sieg has backed into the wall and is done. Tough, tough break. Sieg was running well inside the top 10 and having a great run for Haas. Christian Eckes got into him, per replay. Sieg’s team was confused as to why that happened.
LAP 150: Ryan Sieg takes sixth from Christian Eckes.
LAP 148 TOP 10: Justin Allgaier, Jesse Love, Aric Almirola, Connor Zilisch, Corey Day, Christian Eckes, Ryan Sieg, Sammy Smith, Brandon Jones, Kyle Sieg.
Love is all over Allgaier’s bumper for the lead, nearly bumping him.
LAP 142: Jesse Love is ATTACKING Justin Allgaier in lap traffic. He is heavy on his bumper entering the corner as they work around lap traffic. Love is told to pack air on Allgaier.
LAP 137: Jesse Love is driving into the corner much harder than Justin Allgaier and making up time. Now he uses the outside lane in turns 1 & 2 and REALLY makes up time. He uses that in 3 & 4 and goes for the lead.
Brothers Ryan Sieg and Kyle Sieg run seventh and 11th.
LAP 134: Carson Kvapil loses a spot on older tires. He is struggling as the night wears on.
LAP 133: Jesse Love takes the top lane as he tries to run down Justin Allgaier for the lead.
Allgaier is told, “He tried moving around down here and lost a tenth.”
LAP 129: Jesse Love is getting coaching on the radio but he may not need it. He is right with Justin Allgaier for the lead.
Three-wide for 11th. Parker Retzlaff takes it from Brandon Jones and Taylor Gray.
LAP 126: Parker Retzlaff is looking great on new tires. He is up to 12th. Christian Eckes is also up to sixth on newer tires, Corey Day up to fifth.
LAP 123: Corey Day takes fifth from Sheldon Creed. Really nice run for Day, who is likely to race full-time in the series in 2026.
LAP 118: Justin Allgaier takes the lead. Jesse Love back to second. Aric Almirola looks for second but he has a challenge for third from Sheldon Creed and now Connor Zilisch. Austin Hill and Christian Eckes made contact racing midpack.
LAP 116: 10 wins don’t matter tonight — it all comes down to tonight. Connor Zilisch is fifth and struggling in dirty air.
LAP 114: Ryan Sieg, Corey Day, Kyle Sieg, Harrison Burton, Parker Retzlaff, Brennan Poole and others pit. They ran 10th on back. Brandon Jones comes out first in 14th. Top 13 stayed out.
Leland Honeyman spins! Lap 112. Caution in the dogleg. Allgaier, Love, Almirola, Creed, Gray, Jones, Bonsignore, Sanchez, Ryan Sieg the top 10. Carson Kvapil 11th.
LAP 103: Justin Allgaier takes the lead from Jesse Love and they race HARD on the restart. Allgaier, Love, Almirola, Creed, Zilisch, Gray, Brandon Jones, Sanchez, Bonsignore, Day emerge as the top 10. Carson Kvapil is in heavy traffic back in 12th.
LAP 96: Off pit road: Jesse Love, Justin Allgaier, Aric Almirola, Taylor Gray, Sheldon Creed, Brandon Jones, Connor Zilisch, Justin Bonsignore, Nick Sanchez, Carson Kvapil. Love gained four spots, Zilisch lost five spots, Bonsignore up three spots. Zilisch had a longer stop to work on the car.
The final stage ends on lap 200, the checkered flag in the race and the 2025 season.
STAGE ONE Winner: Taylor Gray
STAGE ONE TOP-10 (LAP 45): Taylor Gray, Sheldon Creed, Justin Allgaier, Connor Zilisch, Nick Sanchez, Carson Kvapil, Kyle Sieg, Aric Almirola, Sammy Smith, Brandon Jones. Gray won last week at Martinsville.
STAGE TWO Winner: Justin Allgaier
STAGE TWO TOP 10 (LAP 90): Justin Allgaier, Connor Zilisch, Aric Almirola, Sheldon Creed, Jesse Love, Taylor Gray, Nick Sanchez, Brandon Jones, Carson Kvapil, Ryan Sieg.
LAP 88: Jesse Love now takes fifth from Taylor Gray. He is really making the top work well.
LAP 85: Jesse Love almost takes sixth from Nick Sanchez but not quite. Now he goes high and passes him. Leader Justin Allgaier is in heavy lap traffic.
LAP 81 TOP 10: Justin Allgaier, Connor Zilisch, Aric Almirola, Sheldon Creed, Taylor Gray, Nick Sanchez, Jesse Love, Brandon Jones, Carson Kvapil, Ryan Sieg.
LAP 77: Jesse Love finally gets by Brandon Jones for seventh. He was told to cool his equipment and tires after heating up the tires on the outside lane. He is told to run a different lane to help the handling.
LAP 66: Connor Zilisch confirms he is better to fire off on this run.
LAP 64: Jesse Love had a bit of a moment in turn two, slipping up the track behind Brandon Jones. Love is eighth now. Ryan Sieg passed brother Kyle for ninth.
LAP 62: Justin Allgaier goes to the outside of Connor Zilisch but Zilisch shuts the door. Allgaier goes to the inside for the lead on the backstretch and takes it in turn three.
Justin Allgaier fighting hard on the outside, takes second and is now behind Connor Zilisch. He is fiery out there right now! Lap 61.
LAP 55 RESTART: Connor Zilisch goes to the lead over Taylor Gray and Justin Allgaier rushes in to try and get second but loses his momentum and now races with Sheldon Creed. Aric Almirola and Brandon Jones are all over that battle.
LAP 56: Connor Zilisch leads.
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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