September 6, 2025 | By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service

Connor Zilisch ties Xfinity Series record with fourth straight win

MADISON, Ill.—Connor Zilisch’s dream season continued on a track he’d never raced before.

Holding off the rest of the NASCAR Xfinity Series field over a succession of restarts late in Saturday night’s Nu Way 200 Sauced by Blues Hog at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, Zilisch achieved a litany of milestones with his ninth victory as a rookie and 10th career.

First, and perhaps most important, the 19-year-old phenom secured the regular-season championship and accompanying bonus of 15 Playoff points, beating reigning series champion Justin Allgaier for that distinction by 53 points.

With four straight victories, Zilisch tied the series record for consecutive wins shared by Sam Ard (1983) and Noah Gragson (2022). His win was the 16th this year for JR Motorsports, a single-season record for the team.

Driving the No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, Zilisch led 121 of 160 laps in posting his seventh victory in the last eight races and his first-ever from the pole in an oval race.

Zilisch’s triumph also made a Playoff driver of Harrison Burton, who advanced to the postseason on points in the first Xfinity Series race at Gateway since 2010.

“Four in a row, seven of the last eight, that’s awesome,” said Zilisch, who enters next week’s Playoff opener at Bristol Motor Speedway with 59 Playoff points. “We’re going to celebrate this—and the regular-season championship.

“Man, this is going to be tough to keep up, honestly. It’s rare that you can go on a run like this. Every week I show up thinking, ‘Man, this is going to be the weekend that we just run eighth,’ and just aren’t great, but every weekend we show up and we’re a winning race car, and my pit crew executes, my team executes, everybody does their job, and we end up doing burnouts on the frontstretch.”

“Yeah, it’s awesome to be able to do this and win this many races.”

There is one unique twist to Zilisch’s string of four victories. He broke his collarbone while celebrating in Victory Lane at Watkins Glen, started the subsequent race at Daytona on Aug.22 but gave way to relief driver Parker Kligerman, who took the checkered flag after completing 91 of the 104 laps.

Having started the race, Zilisch gets credit for the win. 

William Sawalich passed fellow Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota driver Aric Almirola for the second spot on Saturday after a restart on Lap 149 and finished 1.506 seconds behind Zilisch. Christian Eckes ran third, Brandon Jones fourth and Jesse Love fifth, as Almirola faded to sixth.

Sawalich needed a win to advance to the Playoffs at Burton’s expense. Instead, he was runner-up for the second straight weekend.

“The 88 (Zilisch), he was on rails tonight,” Sawalich said. “I think he was definitely the best car all night… We didn’t make the Playoffs, but we certainly gave them a run for their money.”

Jeb Burton’s long-shot hopes of securing a Playoff spot ended on Lap 100. With his right-front tire suddenly losing air, Burton rocketed into the outside wall near the exit from Turn 2.

With a fire raging in the right-front wheel well of his No. 27 Chevrolet, Burton drove the car to pit road and climbed out, his race over.

“That was a hard hit,” Burton acknowledged. “It sucks, but we’re going to Bristol next week.”

That accident, combined with Zilisch’s win, sealed a Playoff position for Burton’s cousin, Harrison Burton, on points. Coincidentally, Harrison spun in Turn 2 on Lap 129 after contact from Brennan Poole’s Chevrolet.

Harrison finished 22nd and claimed the final Playoff berth by 45 points over his cousin.

Allgaier’s bid for the regular-season championship came to an abrupt end on the subsequent Lap 135 restart. His No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet was badly damaged in an 11-car melee in Turn 1 and effectively deprived of a chance to contest Zilisch for the top spot in the standings.

Sam Mayer was eliminated in the same wreck and ended the regular season third in the standings.


NASCAR Xfinity Series Race Number 26
Race Results for the Nu Way 200 Sauced by Blues Hog - Saturday, September 6, 2025
World Wide Technology Raceway - Madison, IL - 1.25 - Mile Paved

Total Race Length - 160 Laps - 200. Miles

Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Saturday, 9/6/2025 @ 10:07 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 160 1 3 59 Running 4 121 6
2 3 18 William Sawalich # Soundgear Toyota 160 3 4 50 Running 1 7
3 10 16 Christian Eckes # Celsius Chevrolet 160 10 8 38 Running  
4 12 20 Brandon Jones Menards/Pennington Toyota 160  7 37 Running  
5 18 2 Jesse Love Whelen Chevrolet 160 8 5 41 Running  
6 7 19 Aric Almirola Young Life Toyota 160 2 2 49 Running 2 2
7 17 11 Daniel Hemric(i) Action Industries Chevrolet 160   0 Running  
8 26 4 Parker Retzlaff Advion Chevrolet 160   29 Running  
9 16 17 Corey Day HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 160   28 Running  
10 11 10 Daniel Dye # Race to Stop Suicide Chevrolet 160   27 Running  
11 23 99 Matt DiBenedetto IBEW Chevrolet 160   26 Running  
12 9 21 Austin Hill Bennett Transportation Chevrolet 160 7 6 34 Running  
13 21 42 Anthony Alfredo Botticelli Chevrolet 160   24 Running  
14 27 44 Brennan Poole ARS Construction Chevrolet 160   23 Running  
15 31 51 Jeremy Clements Alliance Driveway Solutions Chevrolet 160   22 Running  
16 30 26 Dean Thompson # Toyota Genuine Parts Toyota 160   21 Running  
17 5 54 Taylor Gray # Operation 300 Toyota 160 9  22 Running  
18 32 71 Ryan Ellis Anew Transport x ROSCH Chevrolet 160   19 Running  
19 36 45 Lavar Scott Foxxtecca Chevrolet 160   18 Running  
20 29 70 Thomas Annunziata Bayshore Mortgage Chevrolet 160   17 Running  
21 37 91 Matt Mills(i) J.F. Electric Chevrolet 160   0 Running  
22 6 25 Harrison Burton DEX Imaging/Dead On Tools Ford 160   15 Running  
23 25 31 Blaine Perkins Bommarito Automotive Group Chevrolet 160   14 Running  
24 20 28 Kyle Sieg Sustainachem Ford 160   13 Running  
25 2 48 Nick Sanchez # Big Machine Label Group Chevrolet 160 5 9 20 Running  
26 38 53 Joey Gase Mid-America Transplant Chevrolet 160   11 Running  
27 13 39 Ryan Sieg Sci Aps Ford 160   10 Running  
28 14 7 Justin Allgaier BRANDT Chevrolet 160 4 1 26 Running 1 28 1
29 34 07 Nick Leitz Camion/Kaplan Liquid Solutions Chevrolet 160   8 Running 1 2
30 15 00 Sheldon Creed Road Ranger Ford 158   7 Running  
31 35 35 Glen Reen  Toyota 158   6 Running  
32 33 14 Garrett Smithley Over The Wall/Knight Fire Protection Chevrolet 158   5 Running  
33 22 8 Sammy Smith Pilot Chevrolet 157   4 Running  
34 24 76 Kole Raz Cyclum Next Gen Travel Centers Ford 145   3 Running  
35 4 41 Sam Mayer Audibel Ford 134 6 10 8 Accident  
36 19 27 Jeb Burton Onder Law Injury Attorneys Chevrolet 109   1 Accident  
37 8 1 Carson Kvapil # Bass Pro Shops/Claritence Tech Chevrolet 38   1 Engine  
38 28 32 Jordan Anderson Volpi Chevrolet 33   1 Accident  

Fastest Lap Bonus:  # 88 lap 121 / 33.492

Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 12 Mins, 32 Secs. Average Speed: 90.543 MPH Margin of Victory: 1.506 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 88, 19, 18, 7, 48, 41, 21, 2, 54, 16
Stage 2 Top 10: 7, 19, 88, 18, 2, 21, 20, 16, 48, 41

Race Comments: Connor Zilisch has won the Nu Way 200 Sauced by Blues Hog at World Wide Technology Raceway, his 10th career 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 for the reason(s) indicated: No. 26 (Backup Car).
Failed to Qualify: None.

Caution Flags: 6 for 42 laps; Laps: 36-43 (No. 32 Incident Turn 2 / Stage 1 Conclusion [07]); 72-79 (Stage 2 Conclusion [07]); 111-119 (No. 27 Incident Backstretch [91]); 130-134 (Nos. 25, 44 Incident Turn 2 [53]); 136-142 (Nos. 00, 7, 8, 17, 26, 28, 39, 41, 48, 51, 54 Incident Turn 1 [53]); 144-148 (Debris Frontstretch [7]).

Lead Changes: 8 among 5 drivers; C. Zilisch # 1-39; W. Sawalich # 40-46; J. Allgaier 47-74; A. Almirola 75; C. Zilisch # 76-114; N. Leitz 115-116; C. Zilisch # 117-147; A. Almirola 148; C. Zilisch # 149-160.

(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series

Next Race: September 12, 2025 - Bristol Motor Speedway

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


FINAL NASCAR XFINITY SERIES REGULAR SEASON STANGINS

NASCAR Xfinity Series Points Report
World Wide Technology Raceway
Nu Way 200 Sauced by Blues Hog

UNOFFICIAL Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Saturday, 9/6/2025 @ 11:29 PM Eastern UNOFFICIAL

Rank Driver Car Starts GL Points Ldr Nxt Race Wins Stage Wins Playoff Pts
1. Connor Zilisch # 88 25 0 2064 0 0 9 9 64
2. Justin Allgaier 7 26 0 2035 -29 29 3 10 35
3. Sam Mayer 41 26 0 2016 -48 19 1 3 16
4. Jesse Love 2 26 0 2013 -51 3 1 1 13
5. Brandon Jones 20 26 2 2013 -51 0 1 3 13
6. Sammy Smith 8 26 2 2009 -55 4 1 3 9
7. Nick Sanchez # 48 26 5 2006 -58 3 1 1 6
8. Carson Kvapil # 1 26 -2 2005 -59 1 0 1 5
9. Taylor Gray # 54 26 1 2005 -59 0 0 2 5
10. Sheldon Creed 00 26 -1 2003 -61 2 0 1 3
11. Harrison Burton 25 26 0 2002 -62 1 0 2 2
12. Austin Hill 21 25 -7 2000 -64 2 3 6 0
13. Jeb Burton 27 26 0 598 -1466 1402 0 0 0
14. Christian Eckes # 16 26 1 596 -1468 2 0 0 0
15. Ryan Sieg 39 26 -1 570 -1494 26 0 0 0
16. Dean Thompson # 26 26 0 557 -1507 13 0 1 0
17. William Sawalich # 18 26 2 521 -1543 36 0 0 0
18. Daniel Dye # 10 26 -1 520 -1544 1 0 0 0
19. Brennan Poole 44 26 -1 514 -1550 6 0 0 0
20. Jeremy Clements 51 26 0 449 -1615 65 0 0 0



PLAYOFF STANDINGS HEADING INTO RACE 1

POS NO. DRIVER MFR +/-

1 88 Connor Zilisch Chevrolet +59
2 7 Justin Allgaier Chevrolet +30
3 41 Sam Mayer Ford +11
4 2 Jesse Love Chevrolet +8
5 20 Brandon Jones Toyota +8
6 8 Sammy Smith Chevrolet +4
7 48 Nicholas Sanchez Chevrolet +1
8 1 Carson Kvapil Chevrolet +0


CUTOFF LINE

9 54 Taylor Gray Toyota +0
10 00 Sheldon Creed Ford -2
11 25 Harrison Burton Ford -3
12 21 Austin Hill Chevrolet -5