July 26, 2025 | By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service

Connor Zilisch wins third straight, delivers 100th NASCAR Xfinity win to JR Motorsports

SPEEDWAY, Ind.—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.


NASCAR Xfinity Series Race Number 21
Race Results for the Pennzoil 250 - Saturday, July 26, 2025
Indianapolis Motor Speedway - Speedway, IN - 2.5 - Mile Paved

Total Race Length - 100 Laps - 250. Miles

Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Saturday, 7/26/2025 @ 07:29 PM Eastern

Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Stage 1 Pos Stage 2 Pos Pts Status Tms Laps Playoff Pts
1 7 88 Connor Zilisch # WeatherTech Chevrolet 100 5 2 55 Running 3 19 5
2 1 41 Sam Mayer Audibel Ford 100 1 7 50 Running 1 32 1
3 14 54 Taylor Gray # Operation 300 Toyota 100 9 5 42 Running 1 3
4 19 17 Kyle Larson(i) HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 100 8 3 0 Running 1 7
5 21 39 Ryan Sieg Sci Aps Ford 100   32 Running  
6 9 18 William Sawalich # Starkey Toyota 100  10 32 Running  
7 11 8 Sammy Smith TMC Transportation Chevrolet 100   30 Running  
8 18 10 Daniel Dye # Champion Container Chevrolet 100   29 Running  
9 4 2 Jesse Love Whelen Chevrolet 100 7 9 34 Running  
10 16 26 Dean Thompson # Thompson Pipe Group Toyota 100   27 Running  
11 25 99 Matt DiBenedetto Savannah Bananas on the CW Chevrolet 100   26 Running  
12 12 51 Jeremy Clements Wings Etc. Grill & Pub Chevrolet 100   25 Running  
13 15 16 Christian Eckes # LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet 100   24 Running  
14 26 4 Parker Retzlaff Dove Men+Care Chevrolet 100   23 Running  
15 23 27 Jeb Burton CELSIUS Chevrolet 100   22 Running  
16 28 28 Kyle Sieg Fast Park Airport Parking Ford 100   21 Running  
17 3 00 Sheldon Creed Road Ranger Ford 100 6  25 Running  
18 20 25 Harrison Burton DEX Imaging Ford 100   19 Running  
19 30 91 Josh Bilicki Mando Deodorant Chevrolet 100   18 Running  
20 27 44 Brennan Poole Toxic Waste Chevrolet 100   17 Running  
21 34 71 Ryan Ellis Renascent Chevrolet 100   16 Running  
22 31 11 Josh Williams Alloy Employer Services Chevrolet 100   15 Running  
23 22 42 Anthony Alfredo Dude Wipes Chevrolet 100   14 Running  
24 33 45 Mason Massey Mongoose Power Solutions Chevrolet 100   13 Running  
25 32 14 Garrett Smithley Knight Fire Protection Chevrolet 100   12 Running  
26 17 70 Leland Honeyman Ohio Logistics Chevrolet 100   11 Running  
27 29 31 Blaine Perkins iHeart Media/Q95 Rocks Chevrolet 100   10 Running  
28 36 53 Joey Gase OMP/Bell Chevrolet 100   9 Running  
29 38 35 David Starr Alarm Tech Systems Inc. Chevrolet 100   8 Running  
30 10 1 Carson Kvapil # Bass Pro Shops/Clarience Tech Chevrolet 100 10 8 11 Running  
31 37 74 Dawson Cram Mike Harmon Racing Chevrolet 100   6 Running  
32 5 20 Brandon Jones Menards/Best Air Toyota 97 4 6 17 Running  
33 2 48 Nick Sanchez # Gainbridge Chevrolet 96   4 Running  
34 13 21 Austin Hill Bennett Transportation Chevrolet 95   3 Running  
35 6 19 Aric Almirola Young Life Toyota 90 3 4 17 Accident 1 2
36 8 7 Justin Allgaier Hellmann's Spicy Mayo Chevrolet 87 2 1 20 Accident 4 37 1
37 24 32 Katherine Legge(i) Desnuda Tequilla Chevrolet 74   0 Electrical  
38 35 07 Logan Bearden Patriot Crew Chevrolet 37   1 Electrical  

Fastest Lap Bonus:  # lap 2 / 54.549
41                                                                   

Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 22 Mins, 59 Secs. Average Speed: 104.907 MPH Margin of Victory: 0.339 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 41, 7, 19, 20, 88, 00, 2, 17, 54, 1
Stage 2 Top 10: 7, 88, 17, 19, 54, 20, 41, 1, 2, 18

Race Comments: Connor Zilisch has won the Pennzoil 250 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, his sixth areer victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

Failed to Qualify: None.

Caution Flags: 6 for 29 laps; Laps: 4-6 (Spin No. 25 Turn 2 [None]); 32-36 (Stage 1 Conclusion  [35]); 62-66 (Stage 2 Conclusion [53]); 68-73 (Incident No. 1 Turn 2 [35]); 82-86 (Weather [74]); 92-96 ([Weather: Rain - Red Flag 12:01] Incident No. 21 & 19 Turn 3 [20]).

Lead Changes: 10 among 6 drivers; S. Mayer 1-32; J. Allgaier 33; A. Almirola 34-35; J. Allgaier 36-51; C. Zilisch # 52-59; J. Allgaier 60-66; K. Larson(i) 67-73; J. Allgaier 74-86; C. Zilisch # 87-95; T. Gray # 96-98; C. Zilisch # 99-100.

(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series

Next Race: August 2, 2025 - Iowa Speedway

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