Connor Zilisch holds off Shane van Gisbergen for thrilling Xfinity Series win at Sonoma
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SONOMA, Calif.—In closing laps of the Pit Boss/FoodMaxx 250 at Sonoma Raceway, the pupil schooled the master.
Taking shot after shot from JR Motorsports teammate Shane van Gisbergen over the final two laps, Connor Zilisch held off the more experienced driver to claim his third NASCAR Xfinity Series victory of the season and the fourth of his career.
In what was a two-driver show from start to finish, Zilisch and van Gisbergen, the pole winner, combined to lead 70 of the 79 laps, surrendering the top spot only when they short-pitted the first and second stages to recover track position at the stage breaks.
For Zilisch, the victory was revenge for last Saturday’s Xfinity race at the Chicago Street Course, where the 36-year-old van Gisbergen ran his 18-year-old teammate wide in Turn 2 to take the lead and win a two-lap shootout for the victory.
But this Saturday, Zilisch survived contact from van Gisbergen’s front bumper in Turn 7 on the final lap and won the race to the finish line, as the New Zealander tried in vain to cross over to the inside in hairpin Turn 11 on the final lap.
Zilisch powered off the corner and won the race to the finish line by 0.438 seconds.
“First, hats off to Shane,” Zilisch said after climbing from his car. “That was awesome. “All race long, I felt like we were racing each other with respect. I wheel-hopped a little bit in Turn 7 one time and got into him. Otherwise, it was awesome to get to race against him finally and battle with him the whole race long.”
Both Zilisch and van Gisbergen managed to pull away from the rest of the field while saving fuel during the final stage.
“It’s always the hardest trying to save fuel while someone’s breathing down your neck, Zilisch said. “There was a chance that he could have gotten by me when he hit me, but he let me have it and raced me clean. I respect the hell out of him for that, and I’m looking forward to racing against him more.
“We’re going to race each other at Watkins Glen, and that’s one of my favorite tracks, so I hope I can beat him again there.”
Van Gisbergen knew he had an opening when his No. 9 Chevrolet made contact with Zilisch’s No. 88 in Turn 7, but he backed off to let the race play out.
“I gave him a bump into 7, and he wheel-hopped, and I probably could have taken it, but I just waited,” said van Gisbergen, the defending race winner. “I didn’t want to do it like that, and then we raced down the hill. What an awesome race.
“I had a blast all day—really, really fun.”
Zilisch led 46 laps to 24 for van Gisbergen, who was trying for his third straight NASCAR victory in as many starts after sweeping last weekend in Chicago.
Solid work on pit road gave Zilisch control of the race for the final restart on Lap 51, and he led the rest of the way, thwarting SVG’s persistent attempts to pressure him into a mistake.
William Sawalich, who won Friday’s ARCA race in a thrilling finish, was the best of the rest, coming home third, 13.668 seconds behind Zilisch. Nick Sanchez ran fourth, followed by Riley Herbst, series leader Justin Allgaier, Taylor Gray, Carson Kvapil, Sammy Smith and Sheldon Creed.
With Allgaier, Kvapil and Smith joining Zilisch and van Gisbergen, JR Motorsports placed five drivers in the top nine. The victory was the organization’s 10th in 19 races this season, with Zilisch tying Allgaier and 12th-place finisher Austin Hill for the series lead with three wins.
“I didn’t want to have to have to do anything dirty to win this race, and I’m glad I didn’t and glad to do it fair and square,” Zilisch said. “I learned a lot racing around him, and he’s got so many years of experience on me that I can learn from.”
NASCAR Xfinity Series Race Number 19
Race Results for the Pit Boss/FoodMaxx 250 - Saturday, July 12, 2025
Sonoma Raceway - Sonoma, CA - 1.99 - Mile Road
Total Race Length - 79 Laps - 157.21 Miles
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Saturday, 7/12/2025 @ 06:56 PM Eastern
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Stage 1 Pos Stage 2 Pos Pts Status Tms Laps Playoff Pts
1 2 88 Connor Zilisch # Roto-Rooter Chevrolet 79 9 7 46 Running 4 46 5
2 1 9 Shane Van Gisbergen(i) Quad Lock Chevrolet 79 0 Running 4 24
3 5 18 William Sawalich # Soundgear Toyota 79 34 Running
4 23 48 Nick Sanchez # Big Machine Label Group Chevrolet 79 33 Running
5 15 19 Riley Herbst(i) Monster Energy Toyota 79 0 Running
6 10 7 Justin Allgaier BRANDT Chevrolet 79 2 40 Running
7 11 54 Taylor Gray # Operation 300 Toyota 79 30 Running
8 7 1 Carson Kvapil # Bass Pro Shops/Clarience Tech Chevrolet 79 3 5 43 Running
9 6 8 Sammy Smith Pilot Chevrolet 79 4 3 43 Running
10 9 00 Sheldon Creed Pit Boss Ford 79 5 4 40 Running
11 33 32 Austin Green 3Dimensional.com Chevrolet 79 26 Running
12 16 21 Austin Hill Bennett Transportation Chevrolet 79 25 Running
13 8 20 Brandon Jones Menards/Little Giant Toyota 79 2 1 43 Running 1 4 1
14 25 91 Josh Bilicki SBC Contractors Inc Chevrolet 79 23 Running
15 18 11 Josh Williams Alloy Employer Services Chevrolet 79 22 Running
16 36 70 Will Rodgers Refology/Sipeos Chevrolet 79 9 23 Running
17 3 41 Sam Mayer Audibel Ford 79 1 30 Running 1 5 1
18 35 26 Dean Thompson # Thompson Pipe Group Toyota 79 19 Running
19 12 31 Blaine Perkins Warrior Health Foundation Chevrolet 79 8 6 26 Running
20 17 27 Jeb Burton BG Products Chevrolet 79 8 20 Running
21 19 25 Harrison Burton AirBox Ford 79 16 Running
22 32 44 Brennan Poole Finance Pro Plus Chevrolet 79 15 Running
23 13 42 Anthony Alfredo Dude Wipes Chevrolet 79 6 19 Running
24 14 17 Corey Day HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 79 13 Running
25 37 28 Kyle Sieg RSS Racing Ford 79 12 Running
26 24 99 Matt DiBenedetto Viking Motorsports Chevrolet 79 11 Running
27 27 71 Ryan Ellis Classic Collision Chevrolet 79 10 Running
28 34 4 Parker Retzlaff FUNKAWAY Beads Chevrolet 79 9 Running
29 28 5 Kris Wright First National Bank Corp Chevrolet 79 8 Running
30 30 51 Jeremy Clements Alliance/All South Electric Chevrolet 78 7 Running
31 38 45 Brad Perez Pala Casino Chevrolet 78 6 Running
32 31 10 Daniel Dye # Champion Container Chevrolet 78 5 Running
33 22 14 Connor Mosack(i) Knight Fire Protection Chevrolet 77 0 Running
34 21 16 Christian Eckes # LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet 76 3 Running
35 29 39 Ryan Sieg Sci Aps Ford 76 10 10 4 Running
36 26 53 Sage Karam Eternal Fan Toyota 40 1 Transmission
37 20 07 Alex Labbe Sonoma Aviation Chevrolet 36 7 5 Suspension
38 4 2 Jesse Love Whelen Chevrolet 11 1 Rear Gear
Fastest Lap Bonus: # lap 32 / 76.86
9
Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 56 Mins, 12 Secs. Average Speed: 81.176 MPH Margin of Victory: 0.438 Seconds
Stage 1 Top 10: 41, 20, 1, 8, 00, 42, 07, 31, 88, 39
Stage 2 Top 10: 20, 7, 8, 00, 1, 31, 88, 27, 70, 39
Race Comments: Connor Zilisch has won the Pit Boss / Food Maxx 250 at Sonoma Raceway, his fourth victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Prior to the start of the race, the following vehicle(s) dropped to the rear of the field under penalty: Nos. 45, 70 (Unapproved Adjustments) and No. 54 (Engine).
Failed to Qualify: (1) 35 Austin J Hill.
Caution Flags: 2 for 7 laps; Laps: 22-24 (Stage 1 Conclusion [91]); 47-50 (Stage 2 Conclusion [None]).
Lead Changes: 9 among 4 drivers; S. Van Gisbergen(i) 1-2; C. Zilisch # 3-4; S. Van Gisbergen(i) 5-17; S. Mayer 18-22; C. Zilisch # 23-28; S. Van Gisbergen(i) 29-36; C. Zilisch # 37-42; S. Van Gisbergen(i) 43; B. Jones 44-47; C. Zilisch # 48-79.
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
Next Race: July 19, 2025 - Dover Motor Speedway
NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications @ P.O. Box 2875, Daytona Beach, FL 32120-2875
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Sonoma Raceway
Pit Boss-FoodMaxx 250
UNOFFICIAL Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Saturday, 7/12/2025 @ 07:22 PM Eastern UNOFFICIAL
Rank Driver Car Starts GL Points Ldr Nxt Race Wins Stage Wins Playoff Pts
1. Justin Allgaier 7 19 0 686 0 0 3 6 21
2. Sam Mayer 41 19 -1 627 -59 59 0 2 2
3. Austin Hill 21 19 1 622 -64 5 3 6 21
4. Connor Zilisch # 88 18 -1 617 -69 5 3 3 18
5. Jesse Love 2 19 1 582 -104 35 1 1 6
6. Carson Kvapil # 1 19 0 554 -132 28 0 1 1
7. Brandon Jones 20 19 0 527 -159 27 1 3 8
8. Sheldon Creed 00 19 0 518 -168 9 0 1 1
9. Nick Sanchez # 48 19 0 507 -179 11 1 1 6
10. Sammy Smith 8 19 -1 502 -184 5 1 2 7
11. Taylor Gray # 54 19 -1 486 -200 16 0 1 1
12. Jeb Burton 27 19 2 480 -206 6 0 0 0
13. Harrison Burton 25 19 0 464 -222 16 0 2 2
14. Ryan Sieg 39 19 0 430 -256 34 0 0 0
15. Dean Thompson # 26 19 -1 414 -272 16 0 1 1
16. Christian Eckes # 16 19 1 399 -287 15 0 0 0
17. Daniel Dye # 10 19 0 396 -290 3 0 0 0
18. Brennan Poole 44 19 0 368 -318 28 0 0 0
19. Josh Williams 11 19 0 351 -335 17 0 0 0
20. Jeremy Clements 51 19 0 333 -353 18 0 0 0
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