March 1, 2025 | By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service

Connor Zilisch overcomes adversity to win at COTA

AUSTIN, Texas — It’s hard to put Connor Zilisch off his game, as the 18-year-old road course prodigy proved once again in winning Saturday’s Focused Health 250 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Circuit of the Americas.

A commitment line violation couldn’t do it. Sent to the rear for pitting too when pit road closed suddenly for the race’s second caution, Zilisch restarted 32nd after the first stage break and drove though the field, taking the lead from Carson Kvapil on Lap 56 of 65 at the 2.4-mile, 17-turn circuit.

Hard contact with the Toyota of Corey Heim couldn’t do it. Fighting for position in the final stage, Zilisch slammed into Heim, knocking him off course. The wheel-to-wheel contact damaged the right front fender of Zilisch’s No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet and caused a serious tire rub under hard braking.

Hot pursuit from Carson Kvapil couldn’t do it. After making what proved to be the winning pass, Zilisch had to fend off his teammate until Kvapil’s right front tire went flat on Lap 60. That gave Zilisch all the breathing room he needed as he nursed his car to the finish line.

Runner-up William Byron trimmed a four-second lead to 1.639 seconds at the finish but couldn’t mount a challenge over the closing laps.

As a result, the pole winner had his second Xfinity Series victory, adding to his maiden win in his first start in the series last summer at Watkins Glen.

“That was way harder than I wanted it to be,” said Zilisch, who scored the much-needed victory after respective finishes of 27th and 34th in the first two races of the season at Daytona and Atlanta. “I did not drive a clean race at all … I was kind of mentally fogged halfway through that race.

“I made way too many mistakes … I was glad we were able to fight back.”

Byron was driving the No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet that won last year’s Xfinity race at COTA with Kyle Larson behind the wheel.

“My car was just kind of floppy in the short run, and I had to try to take care of it,” said Byron, who will defend his win in the NASCAR Cup Series race on Sunday. “I just tried to stay with it there in the long run … I had fun. It was a good workout.

“It was good to get back into the rhythm of things, pushing the car. I think it’ll help me for (Sunday).”

Zilisch is looking forward to Sunday, too. He’ll make his NASCAR Cup Series debut in the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

“It’s been a fun weekend, but we’ve got a big race tomorrow, so I’m looking forward to that as well,” said Zilisch, who will start 14th.

Sam Mayer ran third on Saturday, with Austin Hill, last week’s Atlanta winner coming home fourth. Hill charged from fourth to first after a Lap 46 restart when Zilisch and Kvapil ran wide into Turn 1.

But Hill’s lead was short-lived. When he over-drove Turn 6a on Lap 52, Kvapil shot past him into the lead, and Zilisch followed into second.

Four laps later, Zilisch had the lead for good, though Kvapil made it a contest until his tire deflated.

Christian Eckes finished fifth. Jesse Love, Taylor Gray, Ross Chastain, William Sawalich and Blaine Perkins completed the top 10.


NASCAR Xfinity Series Race Number 3
Race Results for the Focused Health 250 - Saturday, March 1, 2025
Circuit of The Americas - Austin, TX - 2.4 - Mile Paved

Total Race Length - 65 Laps - 156. Miles

Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Saturday, 3/1/2025 @ 05:26 PM Eastern

Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Stage 1 Pos Stage 2 Pos Pts Status Tms Laps Playoff Pts
1 1 88 Connor Zilisch # WeatherTech Chevrolet 65   40 Running 3 26 5
2 3 17 William Byron(i) HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 65 1  0 Running 1 3
3 8 41 Sam Mayer Audibel Ford 65 4  41 Running  
4 12 21 Austin Hill Global Industrial Chevrolet 65 6  38 Running 1 6
5 10 16 Christian Eckes # Celsius Chevrolet 65 7  36 Running  
6 11 2 Jesse Love Whelen Chevrolet 65   31 Running 2 6
7 7 54 Taylor Gray # Operation 300 Toyota 65   30 Running 2 3
8 2 9 Ross Chastain(i) Acceptance Insurance Chevrolet 65 2  0 Running 2 2
9 23 18 William Sawalich # Starkey Toyota 65   28 Running  
10 18 31 Blaine Perkins WERNER Chevrolet 65   27 Running  
11 16 8 Sammy Smith Pilot Chevrolet 65 8 3 37 Running  
12 14 00 Sheldon Creed Road Ranger Ford 65   25 Running  
13 9 19 Riley Herbst(i) Monster Energy Toyota 65   0 Running 1 7
14 27 07 Alex Labbe Black Diamond Garages Chevrolet 65 10 7 28 Running  
15 21 11 Josh Williams Alloy Employer Services Chevrolet 65  8 25 Running  
16 34 71 Ryan Ellis Classic Collision Chevrolet 65   21 Running  
17 15 10 Daniel Dye # Heise LED Lighting Systems Chevrolet 65  2 29 Running  
18 30 26 Dean Thompson # Thompson Pipe Group Toyota 65   19 Running  
19 38 39 Ryan Sieg Sci Aps Ford 65  5 24 Running  
20 32 44 Brennan Poole Midas Chevrolet 65  6 22 Running  
21 17 42 Anthony Alfredo Austin Gamblers Chevrolet 65 9  18 Running  
22 26 91 Josh Bilicki Insurance King Chevrolet 65   15 Running  
23 5 1 Carson Kvapil # Bass Pro Shops/Clarience Tech Chevrolet 65   15 Running 2 7
24 19 48 Nick Sanchez # Borchetta Bourbon Chevrolet 65   13 Running  
25 29 27 Jeb Burton State Water Heaters Chevrolet 65  4 19 Running  
26 20 32 Austin Green Volpi Chevrolet 65   11 Running  
27 36 28 Kyle Sieg RSS Racing Ford 65  10 11 Running  
28 35 51 Jeremy Clements Henderson Jet Services Chevrolet 65   9 Running  
29 4 7 Justin Allgaier BRANDT/Rev1 Energy Chevrolet 65 5  14 Running  
30 13 20 Brandon Jones Menards/Bali Toyota 65   7 Running  
31 6 24 Corey Heim(i) Upper Deck Toyota 65 3  0 Running  
32 22 99 Matt DiBenedetto ReMA Chevrolet 65   5 Running  
33 33 5 Kris Wright First National Bank Corp Chevrolet 64   4 Running  
34 28 53 Sage Karam Eternal Fan Toyota 58  9 5 Transmission  
35 31 25 Harrison Burton DEX Imaging Ford 55  1 12 Axle 1 5 1
36 25 50 Preston Pardus Chinchor Electric Inc Chevrolet 26   1 Rear End  
37 37 35 Baltazar Leguizamon KSW Construction Corp/Speed Agro Chevrolet 17   1 Suspension  
38 24 14 Carson Hocevar(i) Trophy Tractor Chevrolet 3   0 Accident  

Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 13 Mins, 32 Secs. Average Speed: 70.095 MPH Margin of Victory: 1.639 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 17, 9, 24, 41, 7, 21, 16, 8, 42, 07
Stage 2 Top 10: 25, 10, 8, 27, 39, 44, 07, 11, 53, 28

Race Comments: Connor Zilisch won the Focused Health 250 at Circuit of the Americas, his second career NASCAR Xfinity Series victory. Prior to the green flag, the following cars dropped to the rear for the reason indicated: Nos. 2, 5, 25, 28, 32, 35, 39, 50, 71, 91 (unapproved adjustments).

Failed to Qualify: (3) 45 Brad Perez, 4 Parker Retzlaff, 70 Thomas Annunziata.

Caution Flags: 4 for 14 laps; Laps: 5-6 (No. 14 incident turn 6A [None]); 19-24 (No. 35 stalled on track / Stage 1 Conclusion [32]); 30-31 (Tire pack repair [None]); 42-45 (Stage 2 Conclusion [None]).

Lead Changes: 14 among 9 drivers; C. Zilisch # 1-5; R. Chastain(i) 6; C. Zilisch # 7-17; W. Byron(i) 18-20; R. Chastain(i) 21; T. Gray # 22-23; J. Love 24; T. Gray # 25; J. Love 26-30; R. Herbst(i) 31-37; H. Burton 38-42; C. Kvapil # 43-45; A. Hill 46-51; C. Kvapil # 52-55; C. Zilisch # 56-65.

(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series

Next Race: March 8, 2025 - Phoenix Raceway

NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications @ P.O. Box 2875, Daytona Beach, FL 32120-2875



NASCAR Xfinity Series Points Report
Circuit of The Americas
Focused Health 250

UNOFFICIAL Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Saturday, 3/1/2025 @ 05:34 PM Eastern UNOFFICIAL

Rank Driver Car Starts GL Points Ldr Nxt Race Wins Stage Wins Playoff Pts
1. Austin Hill 21 3 0 122 0 0 1 4 9
2. Jesse Love 2 3 1 109 -13 13 1 0 5
3. Sheldon Creed 00 3 -1 108 -14 1 0 0 0
4. Sam Mayer 41 3 4 94 -28 14 0 0 0
5. Justin Allgaier 7 3 -1 90 -32 4 0 0 0
6. Sammy Smith 8 3 5 87 -35 3 0 0 0
7. Jeb Burton 27 3 -2 85 -37 2 0 0 0
8. Taylor Gray # 54 3 5 75 -47 10 0 0 0
9. Christian Eckes # 16 3 11 74 -48 1 0 0 0
10. Harrison Burton 25 3 -4 73 -49 1 0 1 1
11. Carson Kvapil # 1 3 -2 68 -54 5 0 0 0
12. William Sawalich # 18 3 5 68 -54 0 0 0 0
13. Ryan Sieg 39 3 1 68 -54 0 0 0 0
14. Jeremy Clements 51 3 -7 64 -58 4 0 0 0
15. Josh Williams 11 3 4 64 -58 0 0 0 0
16. Connor Zilisch # 88 3 16 61 -61 3 1 0 5
17. Daniel Dye # 10 3 6 60 -62 1 0 0 0
18. Dean Thompson # 26 3 -2 59 -63 1 0 0 0
19. Matt DiBenedetto 99 3 -9 56 -66 3 0 0 0
20. Nick Sanchez # 48 3 -5 55 -67 1 0 0 0
21. Ryan Ellis 71 3 1 54 -68 1 0 0 0
22. Leland Honeyman  2 -10 50 -72 4 0 0 0
23. Brennan Poole 44 3 4 49 -73 1 0 0 0
24. Blaine Perkins 31 3 7 48 -74 1 0 0 0
25. Josh Bilicki 91 3 0 45 -77 3 0 0 0
26. Anthony Alfredo 42 3 4 42 -80 3 0 0 0
27. Aric Almirola  1 -9 39 -83 3 0 0 0
28. Joey Gase  2 -7 38 -84 1 0 0 0
29. Brandon Jones 20 3 -1 32 -90 6 0 0 0
30. Jordan Anderson  1 -6 30 -92 2 0 0 0
31. Alex Labbe 07 1 -31 28 -94 2 0 0 0
32. Patrick Emerling  1 -6 27 -95 1 0 0 0
33. Caesar Bacarella  1 -4 24 -98 3 0 0 0
34. Ryan Truex  1 -1 20 -102 4 0 0 0
35. Kris Wright 5 3 1 20 -102 0 0 0 0
36. Garrett Smithley  2 -2 19 -103 1 0 0 0
37. Parker Retzlaff  2 -2 18 -104 1 0 0 0
38. Kyle Sieg 28 3 6 16 -106 2 0 0 0
39. Nick Leitz  1 -2 15 -107 1 0 0 0
40. Justin Bonsignore  1 -2 12 -110 3 0 0 0
41. Cj Mclaughlin  1 -2 12 -110 0 0 0 0
42. Greg Van Alst  1 -2 11 -111 1 0 0 0
43. Austin Green 32 1 -43 11 -111 0 0 0 0
44. Mason Massey  1 -3 9 -113 2 0 0 0
45. Mason Maggio  1 -3 6 -116 3 0 0 0
46. Carson Ware  1 -3 5 -117 1 0 0 0
47. Sage Karam 53 1 -47 5 -117 0 0 0 0
48. Preston Pardus 50 1 -48 1 -121 4 0 0 0
49. Baltazar Leguizamon 35 1 -49 1 -121 0 0 0 0
50. William Byron(i) 17 1 -50 0 -122 1 0 1 0
51. Ross Chastain(i) 9 1 -51 0 -122 0 0 0 0
52. Riley Herbst(i) 19 1 -52 0 -122 0 0 0 0
53. Corey Heim(i) 24 1 -53 0 -122 0 0 0 0
54. Carson Hocevar(i) 14 1 -54 0 -122 0 0 0 0
55. Brad Perez  0 -55 0 -122 0 0 0 0
56. Jj Yeley(i)  0 -11 0 -122 0 0 0 0
57. Thomas Annunziata  0 -57 0 -122 0 0 0 0

-Ldr/-Nxt = Points behind Leader/Next higher, (i) Ineligible for driver points in this series