{"id":128933,"date":"2025-09-08T14:07:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-08T14:07:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/128933\/"},"modified":"2025-09-08T14:07:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-08T14:07:10","slug":"19-year-old-zilisch-secures-regular-season-nascar-xfinity-title","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/128933\/","title":{"rendered":"19-year-old Zilisch secures regular season NASCAR Xfinity title"},"content":{"rendered":"

Connor Zilisch<\/a>‘s incredible run of form continues, collecting his ninth win of the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series season and his fourth in a row. The victory came at WWT Raceway (Gateway), which was hosting an Xfinity race for the first time in 15 years.<\/p>\n

Zilisch joins Sam Ard and Noah Gragson<\/a> as the only drivers to ever win four consecutive NASCAR Xfinity Series races.<\/p>\n

“Yeah, that one was stressful,” said Zilisch. “Man, that’s awesome — four in a row, (and) I think that’s seven in the last eight for our WeatherTech Chevrolet … It’s my mom’s birthday today, so happy birthday Mom, I love you. A lot of fans here. It’s awesome to come to St. Louis and bring the Xfinity Series back here, so thank you guys for showing up tonight.”<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Watch: Zilisch celebrates ‘stressful’ Gateway win, Xfinity Regular Season Championship<\/p>\n

The final restart was wild, as Zilisch and Aric Almirola<\/a> slammed doors, but the No. 88 JR Motorsports<\/a> still managed to get away. In the closing laps, it was two drivers in a must-win situation trying to chase Zilisch down. Ultimately, William Sawalich<\/a> and Christian Eckes<\/a> had to settle for second and third, respectively.<\/p>\n

Brandon Jones<\/a> finished fourth, Jesse Love<\/a> fifth, Almirola sixth, Daniel Hemric<\/a> seventh, Parker Retzlaff<\/a> eighth, Corey Day ninth, and Daniel Dye<\/a> tenth.<\/p>\n

Read Also:<\/p>\n

Stages 1 and 2<\/p>\n

Zilisch led the race from pole position, and remained out front for the entire opening stage.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, Stage 1 did end under yellow after Jordan Anderson<\/a> slammed the wall just before the green-and-white checkered flag.<\/p>\n

Zilisch won the stage, followed by Almirola, Sawalich, Allgaier, and Sanchez.<\/p>\n

Between stages, Carson Kvapil<\/a> fell out of the race after losing power, taking the No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet behind the wall.<\/p>\n

Sawalich took the lead on pit road, and Zilisch lost valuable ground on the restart after Allgaier made a daring three-wide pass to his outside. The two teammates entered this race with just 20 points between them in the fight for the regular season title.<\/p>\n

Allgaier quickly took the lead, and led the rest of the stage. However, he had to fight off a charging Almirola in the closing laps. The two drivers got side-by-side at one point, with Almirola washing up the track and making contact with the leader.<\/p>\n

Despite this, Allgaier did not back down and went on to win Stage 2 with Almirola second, Zilisch third, Sawalich fourth, and Love fifth.<\/p>\n

Stage 3<\/p>\n

After winning Stage 2, Allgaier got caught speeding on pit road, sending him to the back of the field. Zilisch regained the lead in the pits, even before the penalty.<\/p>\n

He controlled the restart and remains out front without much of a challenge from those chasing him.<\/p>\n

The caution flew again with about 50 laps to go when Jeb Burton<\/a> crashed heavily at the exit of Turn 2, ending his hopes of pointing his way into the playoffs.<\/a> It was the second time tonight a Jordan Anderson Racing car suffered a major impact due to a tire failure.<\/p>\n

The caution meant drivers could avoid making their final stop of the night under green. Zilisch held the lead on pit road with relative ease.<\/p>\n

At this point, the cautions became quite frequent as Jeb’s cousin, Harrison Burton<\/a>, went for a spin. Sammy Smith<\/a> also fell off the lead lap as he battled significant issues with his brakes.<\/p>\n

The restart that followed was chaotic, as Sheldon Creed<\/a> struggled to get rolling due to gear issues. A wild stack-up ensued, quickly escalating in a multi-car pileup. Creed suffered notable damage along with Allgaier, Mayer, Sanchez, Taylor Gray<\/a>, and Ryan Sieg<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Zilisch continued to hold back the field with every late-race restart, making some more history as the teenager gets ready to fight for the 2025 NXS championship.<\/p>\n

Read Also:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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