Race Lineup : Indianapolis Motor Speedway

• Friday, July 25th, 2025
• NASCAR Wire Service - Reid Spencer

Can't Stop, Won't Stop: Zilisch Eyes Third Straight Win in Indy Debut

Talk about a quick study.

No NASCAR Xfinity Series driver comes to Indianapolis Motor Speedway with more momentum than Connor Zilisch, who won his series-best fourth race of the season and fifth of his young career in last Saturday’s rain-shortened event at Dover Motor Speedway.

Fresh from consecutive victories at Sonoma Raceway and Dover, Zilisch will try for a third straight win in Saturday’s Pennzoil 250 on the historic 2.5-mile oval (4:30 p.m. ET on CW, IMS Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

All five of Zilisch’s victories have come in his series debuts at the respective tracks, dating to his first Xfinity start last year at Watkins Glen International. In addition, with his win at Dover, Zilisch trimmed the series lead of JR Motorsports teammate and reigning series champion Justin Allgaier to 56 points with six races left in the regular season.

Zilisch, who turned 19 on Tuesday, believes the regular-season crown might be difficult to attain.

“Fifty-six points is a lot, especially when you’re racing against Justin Allgaier,” Zilisch said. “It’s going to be hard to make that up with him being the points leader, but I would never say never. He would need to have very bad luck, and I would need to continue this crazy streak that I’m on.”

That streak includes wins in three of the last five races, eight consecutive top-five finishes (with three second-place runs to go with the three wins) and an average result of 2.25 over those eight events.

• Indianapolis Motor Speedway
• Pennzoil 250
• Pole Winner: Sam Mayer
• Age: 22
• Team : No 41 - Audibel Ford
• Owner: Gene Haas
• Crew Chief: Jason Trinchere
• Sam Mayer won the Pole Award for the Pennzoil 250 with a lap of 54014 seconds, 166623 mph
• This is his fourth pole in 138 NASCAR Xfinity Series races
• This is his first pole and 15th top-10 start in 2025
• This is his first pole in two races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway
• Nick Sanchez (second) posted his 11th top-10 start of 2025 and his first in one race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway
• Sheldon Creed (third) posted his first top-10 start at Indianapolis Motor Speedway It is his 11th in 21 races this season
• Nick Sanchez (second) was the fastest qualifying rookie

• Saturday, July 26th, 2025
• NASCAR Wire Service - Reid Spencer

Zilisch Scores Hat Trick at Indy, Delivers JRM's Historic 100th Win

As contrary as it might seem, there was ambivalence in Connor Zilisch’s victory in Saturday’s Pennzoil 250 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Yes, Zilisch won his third straight NASCAR Xfinity Series race and added to his inarguable credentials as a budding superstar.

What’s more, Zilisch delivered victory No.100 to JR Motorsports , the organization founded by Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his sister, Kelly Earnhardt Miller.

But Zilisch’s victory came at the expense of teammate Justin Allgaier, who made a heroic move on the outside to retake the lead from Kyle Larson on Lap 74 and had the win in his sights until the following restart on Lap 87.

That’s when Larson’s No. 17 Chevrolet broke loose in Turn 1 and turned Allgaier’s Chevrolet into the outside wall and out of the race.

That left Zilisch and Taylor Gray to battle for the lead after a restart with four laps left. With a push from the Ford of Sam Mayer, Zilisch took control on Lap 99 of 100 and held on to win by 0.339 seconds over Mayer as Gray slipped to third.

“I see some bricks that look kissable, and I’m going to kiss them,” Zilisch said, referencing an Indianapolis tradition started by NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Jarrett. “This is awesome. One hundred wins for JRM. Congrats to Dale, Kelley, L.W. (Miller), everybody who’s raced for JRM, everybody who works at JRM.”

“I’m the smallest part of this team, and I’m so glad to be a part of it.”

Zilisch’s fifth victory of the season and sixth of his career followed wins at Sonoma Raceway and Dover Motor Speedway in his last two starts. With Allgaier finishing 36th after the wreck, Zilisch, who turned 19 on Tuesday, cut his teammate’s lead in the series standings to 21 points with five races left in the regular season.

“I hate it for Justin, because he’s been the cornerstone of company for so many years,” Dale Earnhardt Jr. said of the reigning series champion. “He’s been dependable, reliable, great with our partners, and he want to do these things for us.”

A violent accident involving the cars of Aric Almirola and Austin Hill set up the final restart with four laps left. On Lap 91, Almirola looked to the inside of Hill’s No. 21 Chevrolet exiting the short chute leading to Turn 4.

Hill’s car got loose but recovered, then turned left into Almirola’s Toyota, sending the Supra hard into the outside wall.

“Of course it was intentional,” Almirola said after a mandatory trip to the infield care center. “It was time to go, and I got him loose, and he just turned left and hooked me in the right rear. Honestly, it was one of the biggest hits in my entire NASCAR career.”

NASCAR held Hill’s Camaro on pit road for five laps for rough driving and will review the incident in the coming week for additional penalties, if warranted.

Larson survived the accident with Allgaier to finish fourth, and Ryan Sieg came home fifth. William Sawalich, Sammy Smith, Daniel Dye, Jesse Love and Dean Thompson completed the top 10.

Jeb Burton ran 15th and leads his cousin, Harrison Burton, by 10 points in the race for the final Xfinity Series Playoff spot. Harrison Burton finished 18th.

• Drivers Entered: 38
• Laps Scheduled: 100
• Margin of Victory: 0.339 Seconds
• Time of Race: 2 Hours 22 Minutes 59 Seconds
• Average Speed: 104.907
• Cautions: 6 for 29 laps
• Lead Changes: 10
• Green Flag Passes: 1,081 (15.2 passes per green flag lap)

• Indianapolis Motor Speedway
• Pennzoil 250
• Race Winner: Connor Zilisch
• Age: 19
• Team : No 88 - WeatherTech Chevrolet
• Owner: Dale Earnhardt, Jr
• Crew Chief: Mardy Lindley
• Connor Zilisch won the Pennzoil 250, his sixth victory in 24 Xfinity Series races
• This is his fifth victory and 12th top-10 finish in 2025
• This is his first victory and first top-10 finish in one race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway
• Sam Mayer (second) posted his first top-10 finish in two races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway It is his 12th top-10 finish in 2025
• Taylor Gray (third) posted his first top-10 finish in one races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway
• Connor Zilisch (first) was the highest finishing rookie
• Justin Allgaier leads the point standings by 21 points over Connor Zilisch #