LINCOLN, Ala. — Connor Zilisch saw his historic streak of top-five finishes end with Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Talladega Superspeedway.

Zilisch seemed destined to keep his top-five streak going, finishing fourth in the first stage, but destiny isn’t safe at Talladega. With a few laps to go in the second stage, a crash swept him and his right-front fender up in it.

The team repaired the damage and got Zilisch back on track but his car lacked the same speed it had before as he could only work his way up to 13th.

Then, with 23 laps to go, the damage caused Zilisch to cut a right-front tire and hit the wall. He pitted and fell three laps down, ending his historic streak in 23rd at the finish.

Talladega hasn’t been kind to Zilisch. Before Saturday, the April race was the last time Zilisch finished outside of the top-five. On the bright side, Zilisch escaped Saturday without injury — in contrast to April when he injured his back in a crash on the final lap and had to missing the following race.

When Zilisch came back, he scored 18 consecutive top-five finishes — a new series record. He scored nine wins in those 18 races and solidified himself as the driver to beat for the championship.

Zilisch’s turnaround is remarkable. In the first 11 races, he had just three top-10 finishes and just one top-five finish — a win at Circuit of the Americas. In that span, he also led 100 laps at Martinsville Speedway.

Zilisch returns to Martinsville for the final cutoff race of the playoffs. He is xx points above the cutline separating the drivers who will and will not race for the championship Nov. 1 at Phoenix Raceway.

Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.

A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.

Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick’s final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen’s stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers’ stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.

Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com