NASCAR Xfinity: Zilisch zips to third straight win, 100th for JR Motorsports
SPEEDWAY, Ind. — Connor Zilisch zipped to his third straight NASCAR Xfinity Series win and the 100th for JR Motorsports in Saturday’s race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Zilisch led three times for 19 laps, including the final two, to get the win. Zilisch had the lead with five laps to go but a sluggish movement in his lane allowed Taylor Gray to get by and clear him exiting turn two.
The JR Motorsports stud quickly recovered. With four laps to go, he made a move on Gray but a push from Sam Mayer to Gray held Zilisch back. Then, the same thing happened a lap later — but Mayer pushed Zilisch by and cleared Gray.
Zilisch now has six wins in his young NASCAR Xfinity Series career, including a series-high five this season.
Defeat snatched victory from Gray’s grasp but it wasn’t all bad. Gray finished third and is 59 points above the playoff cutline leaving Indy.
“The long red flag hurt us. I feel like we were better than the 88 before but the heat cycle got me too tight. Can’t thank JGR enough for bringing us a fast Toyota GR Supra. I feel like it’s a testament to my team,” Gray said to The CW.
In front of Gray, Mayer finished second after leading the first 32 laps and winning the first stage. A slow pit stop set him back until the very end.
“This one hurts a lot. Really proud of these guys. They put the work in the last couple of weeks and it’s been showing. We had good pace,” Mayer said.
In fourth was Kyle Larson who crashed while racing Justin Allgaier for the lead with 15 laps to go.
“He didn’t really pack air, I just got loose. I tried to bail quickly and just… wrecked him. You never want to wreck someone who’s racing full-time like that but there’s nothing I could’ve really done to him. I’m sorry to Justin,” Larson said.
TOP-10 FINISHERS (LAP 100): Connor Zilisch, Sam Mayer, Taylor Gray, Kyle Larson, Ryan Sieg, William Sawalich, Sammy Smith, Daniel Dye, Jesse Love, Dean Thompson.
Through the Field
Christian Eckes came back from being off of the lead lap in the final stage to finish 13th on the day. Sheldon Creed finished 17th with right-front damage that sunk him in the closing laps of the race.
Carson Kvapil, Brandon Jones, Austin Hill, Aric Almirola and Justin Allgaier finished 30th, 32nd, 34th, 35th and 36th, respectively, after each crashing in the final stage. In between them, Nick Sanchez finished 33rd after hitting the wall.
NASCAR Xfinity Series at Indianapolis 2025 Race Recap
The only incident in the first two stages was Harrison Burton spinning in turn two on lap four.
STAGE ONE TOP-10 (LAP 30): Sam Mayer, Justin Allgaier, Aric Almirola, Brandon Jones, Connor Zilisch, Sheldon Creed, Jesse Love, Kyle Larson, Taylor Gray, Carson Kvapil.
Allgaier jumped out to the lead for 16 laps before Zilisch took it back. Allgaier had the last laugh as he got the run exiting turn four to nip Zilisch at the line for the stage win.
STAGE TWO TOP-10 (LAP 60): Allgaier, Zilisch, Larson, Almirola, Gray, Jones, Mayer, Kvapil, Love, William Sawalich.
To start the final stage, with 35 laps to go, Carson Kvapil received damage in an incident exiting turn two. Larson passed Allgaier for the lead while that happened.
On the next restart, with 28 to go, Allgaier took it back and held off Larson as a caution for rain looked to possibly end the race.
It didn’t.
Then, on the restart with 15 laps to go, Larson got loose under Allgaier, causing them to make contact. Allgaier smacked the wall and collected Brandon Jones, ending their days.
Meanwhile, Connor Zilisch took the lead as Larson plummeted to 10th. The incident with Austin Hill and Aric Almirola then set up a restart with five laps to go that put Taylor Gray out in front — until Zilisch had the steam to storm by.
Zilisch leads the series with five wins on the season. Next is Allgaier and Hill with three apiece — and Jones, Sammy Smith, Jesse Love and Nick Sanchez with a win apiece. Below them is as follows:
- Sam Mayer +192 points to the playoff cutline
- Carson Kvapil +78
- Sheldon Creed +67
- Taylor Gray +59
- Jeb Burton +10
- Harrison Burton -10
- Ryan Sieg -20
- Dean Thompson -57
- Christian Eckes -69
Justin Allgaier leads the regular-season points standings by 21 over Connor Zilisch and 48 over Sam Mayer.
NEXT: Iowa Speedway, Aug. 2. Sam Mayer is the defending winner.
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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