August 9, 2025 | By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service

Connor Zilisch goes back-to-back in Xfinity at Watkins Glen, then breaks collarbone in victory lane

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y.—It was as hard-earned a victory as the 19-year-old Connor Zilisch has claimed in his brief NASCAR career — answering his win from pole position a year ago in his Xfinity Series debut at the historic Watkins Glen International road course with a second consecutive victory Saturday afternoon in a crash-heavy Mission 200 at The Glen.

As Zilisch climbed out of the cockpit and onto the door ledge of his No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet to celebrate his series-best sixth trophy of the season, he slipped and fell to the ground. Medical teams arrived immediately to tend to him and transported him on a backboard to the trackside medical center.

NASCAR confirmed Zilisch was “awake and alert” and that he was transported to a local hospital for further evaluation.

The incident followed an action-packed day of competition on the famed 2.45-mile road course that included fierce racing at the front of the field and a 45-minute red flag for a series’ track record 16-car accident with eight laps remaining.

Ultimately, Zilisch — who led 60 of the race’s 82 laps — motored off to a 2.326-second win over Haas Factory Team’s Sam Mayer — that sixth win, one shy of Christopher Bell’s rookie record six victories set in 2018.

It was an afternoon of high drama throughout the field.

The highly anticipated competitive duel between the JRM teammates Zilisch and road-course ace Shane van Gisbergen at the front of the field was evident from the weekend’s practice and qualifying — and ultimately the race. Zilisch claimed the pole position and started alongside the 36-year-old former Australian Supercars champion on the front row; something that has become a familiar look for the road racing aces.

For much of the day, it looked like the final outcome would indeed come down to Zilisch and van Gisbergen. They raced out front for the majority of the day before making contact with 18 laps remaining.

Zilisch inherited the lead and immediately relayed to his crew, “he [van Gisbergen] spun off my nose” and told his crew again, “if I wrecked him, tell me.” He was told to “shake it off” and go racing.

Van Gisbergen, who will start from outside the front row again in Sunday’s Cup Series race at the track, did not put any blame on Zilisch and said he needed to look at a replay.

“Pretty gutted really, gutted for the JR Motorsports guys,” van Gisbergen said. “The car wasn’t great but we still managed to get ourselves in good position.

“I haven’t seen it yet,” he said when pressed on what happened. “Will watch it later and work it out.”

On the ensuing green flag from the incident, Austin Hill’s No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevy tagged the right rear of Zilisch’s car going into the first turn, giving the veteran Hill the lead as Zilisch gathered his car wide of the racing line. A caution came out immediately for debris elsewhere on track, putting Hill and Cup Series road racing ace Michael McDowell out front for a restart.

Only eight laps after that, Zilisch raced forward from fifth place and navigated around Hill. Moments later, Hill’s car had big contact with McDowell’s, triggering the massive 16-car pileup.

McDowell, the 2021 Daytona 500 winner, took the most dramatic hit in the big accident, sliding hard into the walls on both sides of the Turns 5 and 6 section of the course. Despite the stirring incident in his first Xfinity Series start in nine years, McDowell was not injured, however, and gave a complete review of the incident, even offering a smile.

“That was unfortunate and I just hate it for everybody at Kaulig Racing,” McDowell said of the crash. “We had a couple shots at it and was hoping to get to Victory Lane but that was unfortunate. … But that’s racing and thankful to everybody at Kaulig. Was trying to do a good job for them there.”

Hill, who ultimately finished fourth, spoke with The CW television live broadcast during the red flag.

“The 11 [McDowell] had been struggling a little bit in front of me for a few laps,” Hill said of the incident. “I thought if I got a big enough run I might could get to his left side and get that position.

“I hate it for everyone involved, that was definitely not what I wanted to happen coming back from what we had going on,” continued Hill. “All we can do is get it behind us, put our head down and we’ve still got a shot to win this thing. Got to get my mind right for this re-start.”

Zilisch’s JRM teammate Sammy Smith finished third, followed by Hill and JRM’s Carson Kvapil and Justin Allgaier.

Jordan Anderson Racing’s Austin Green, Kaulig Racing’s Christian Eckes, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Brandon Jones and AM Racing’s Harrison Burton rounded out the top 10.

Three races remain now before the playoffs. Zilisch and his teammate Allgaier — who each won a race stage on Saturday and remain atop the championship standings. Zilisch leads Allgaier by seven points.

With his 10th-place showing, Burton is holding on to the important 12th-place playoff transfer position. He is 30 points ahead of his cousin Jeb Burton and 38 points up on Ryan Sieg.

The Xfinity Series will take a one-week break next weekend before returning to competition in the Friday night Wawa 250 Powered by Coca-Cola at Daytona International Speedway on Aug. 22 (7:30 p.m. ET, The CW, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Ryan Truex is the defending race winner.

NOTE: Post-race inspection in the Xfinity Series garage concluded without issue, confirming Zilisch as the race winner.


NASCAR Xfinity Series Race Number 23
Race Results for the Mission 200 At The Glen - Saturday, August 9, 2025
Watkins Glen International - Watkins Glen, NY - 2.45 - Mile Road

Total Race Length - 82 Laps - 200.9 Miles

Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Saturday, 8/9/2025 @ 06:50 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 # Registix Chevrolet 82  1 51 Running 8 60 6
2 4 41 Sam Mayer Audibel Ford 82  3 43 Running  
3 6 8 Sammy Smith Pilot Chevrolet 82  9 36 Running 1 1
4 10 21 Austin Hill Bennett Transportation Chevrolet 82  4 40 Running 1 3
5 14 1 Carson Kvapil # Bass Pro Shops/Clarience Tech Chevrolet 82  5 38 Running  
6 9 7 Justin Allgaier BRANDT Chevrolet 82 1 8 44 Running 1 3 1
7 18 32 Austin Green 3Dimensional.com Chevrolet 82  10 31 Running  
8 36 16 Christian Eckes # Celsius Chevrolet 82   29 Running  
9 13 20 Brandon Jones Menards/Pelonis Toyota 82   28 Running  
10 17 25 Harrison Burton AirBox Ford 82 6  32 Running  
11 8 24 Kaz Grala(i) Overplay Games Toyota 82   0 Running  
12 31 44 Brennan Poole Macc/E-Z Lift Garage Doors Chevrolet 82   25 Running  
13 19 26 Dean Thompson # Thompson Pipe Group Toyota 82 7  28 Running  
14 15 2 Jesse Love Samsara Chevrolet 82 5  29 Running 1 1
15 30 51 Jeremy Clements All Weather Power Equipment Chevrolet 82   22 Running  
16 23 27 Jeb Burton Bommarito.com Chevrolet 82   21 Running  
17 21 10 Daniel Dye # Race to Stop Suicide Chevrolet 82   20 Running  
18 3 54 Taylor Gray # Operation 300 Toyota 82 2  28 Running  
19 26 45 Stefan Parsons(i) Mongoose Power Solutions Chevrolet 82   0 Running  
20 38 53 Austin J. Hill Southern Ohio Equipment Co. Chevrolet 82   17 Running  
21 35 35 Glen Reen Eternal Fan Toyota 82   16 Running  
22 22 4 Parker Retzlaff Monroe Kitchen Chevrolet 82 8  18 Running 1 1
23 32 31 Blaine Perkins Warrior Health Foundation Chevrolet 80   14 Running  
24 7 48 Nick Sanchez # Borchetta Bourbon Chevrolet 75 4  20 Accident  
25 12 11 Michael McDowell(i) Different Night Same Rodeo Chevrolet 73  6 0 Accident 1 1
26 5 18 William Sawalich # Soundgear Toyota 73   11 Accident 1 1
27 27 91 Josh Bilicki Trim-Tex Chevrolet 73   10 Accident  
28 29 39 Ryan Sieg Sci Aps Ford 73 9  11 Accident  
29 33 71 Ryan Ellis Tablo Chevrolet 73   8 Accident  
30 28 28 Kyle Sieg Monroe Extinguisher Ford 73   7 Accident  
31 2 9 Shane Van Gisbergen(i) Kubota Chevrolet 64  2 0 Accident 3 11
32 20 42 Anthony Alfredo Dude Wipes Chevrolet 63   5 Running  
33 24 99 Matt DiBenedetto Viking Motorsports Chevrolet 52 10  5 Suspension  
34 34 07 Preston Pardus Priority Tire Chevrolet 52   3 Running  
35 11 00 Sheldon Creed Road Ranger Ford 50 3 7 14 Accident  
36 16 19 Riley Herbst(i) Monster Energy Toyota 39   0 Engine  
37 25 70 Thomas Annunziata Bayshore Mortgage Chevrolet 24   1 Accident  
38 37 14 Garrett Smithley Bully Hill Vineyards Chevrolet 3   1 Engine  

Fastest Lap Bonus:  # 88 lap 25 / 72.843

Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 26 Mins, 49 Secs. Average Speed: 82.102 MPH Margin of Victory: 2.326 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 7, 54, 00, 48, 2, 25, 26, 4, 39, 99
Stage 2 Top 10: 88, 9, 41, 21, 1, 11, 00, 7, 8, 32

Race Comments: Connor Zilisch won the Mission 200 At The Glen at Watkins Glen International, his seventh NASCAR Xfinity Series victory. Prior to the green flag, the following cars dropped to the rear of the field for the reasons indicated: Nos. 14, 16, 45 (unapproved adjustments); No. 53 (engine change).

Failed to Qualify: None.

Caution Flags: 7 for 20 laps; Laps: 6-7 (#91 stopped on track [None]); 22-24 (Stage 1 Conclusion [91]); 42-44 (Stage 2 Conclusion [31]); 53-55 (#00 incident turn 6 [10]); 66-68 (#9, 88 incident turn 7 [31]); 70-71 (Debris [31]); 75-78 (#11, 39, 15, 54, 2, 18, 21, 91, 28, 27, 71 incident turn 6 [Red Flag: Lap 74, 45:05] [31]).

Lead Changes: 17 among 9 drivers; C. Zilisch # 1-6; S. Van Gisbergen(i) 7; C. Zilisch # 8-18; J. Allgaier 19-21; C. Zilisch # 22-23; W. Sawalich # 24; C. Zilisch # 25-43; S. Van Gisbergen(i) 44; C. Zilisch # 45-53; P. Retzlaff 54; J. Love 55; S. Van Gisbergen(i) 56-64; C. Zilisch # 65-68; A. Hill 69-71; M. McDowell(i) 72; C. Zilisch # 73-77; S. Smith 78; C. Zilisch # 79-82.

(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series

Next Race: August 22, 2025 - Daytona International Speedway

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



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CONNER ZILLISCH BREAKS COLLARBONE INVICTORY LANE AT WATKINS GLEN

By NASCAR.com

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. -- Connor Zilisch was taken to a local hospital for treatment of a broken collarbone after falling from his car in Victory Lane, just after his win in Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Watkins Glen International.

Zilisch’s injuries will force him to miss Sunday’s Cup Series race, the Go Bowling at The Glen (2 p.m. ET, USA Network, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App). Trackhouse Racing announced Saturday night that it would withdraw Zilisch’s No. 87 Chevrolet entry, wishing their driver a speedy recovery.

Zilisch led 60 of the 82 laps in the Mission 200, registering his sixth win of the Xfinity Series season. His celebration was abbreviated as he emerged from his No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet when he suddenly fell to the ground below.

Medical personnel at the track placed the 19-year-old driver on a backboard, and he was loaded into an ambulance for transport to the care center at the track. The CW broadcast reported that Zilisch was alert and speaking with the safety crew.

NASCAR Communications officials later announced that Zilisch was awake and alert, but that he would be transported to a local hospital for further evaluation. JR Motorsports posted later Saturday evening that Zilisch had been released.

Zilisch posted to social media Saturday night about the nature of his injuries, indicating that his collarbone was broken and sharing his appreciation for the rapid response of safety personnel.

Zilisch was slated to make his fourth career Cup Series start in Sunday’s race at Watkins Glen, the site of his first Xfinity Series victory last September.

Zilisch leads the Xfinity Series in both wins and points in his rookie year. His victory at The Glen broke a tie atop the standings with JRM teammate Justin Allgaier, the defending series champion.

Zilisch missed a race earlier this year after suffering a lower back injury in a final-lap crash at Talladega Superspeedway in April. The injury forced him out of the Xfinity Series’ event at Texas Motor Speedway, where Cup Series regular Kyle Larson subbed in and drove his No. 88 Chevrolet to victory.