LONG POND, Pa. — In a day of varying strategies and dramatic restarts among the front runners, JR Motorsports rookie Connor Zilisch prevailed in a late race sprint to the checkered flag in Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series’ Explore the Pocono Mountains 250 at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway – the first oval win of this young talent’s career.
Late-race restarts determined the day and ultimately it came down to a duel between Zilisch and his best friend, last year’s Rookie of the Year, Jesse Love. Zilisch pulled his No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet alongside Love’s car as they crossed the start/finish line with four laps to go and then he took the lead for good with three laps remaining – .437-seconds ahead of the field.
It was that kind of resolute day for the 18-year-old Zilisch, who had some key help in his headset from a first-time crew chief. His team owner, NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr., filled in for the team’s fulltime leader Mardy Lindley, who was serving a one-race suspension.
The two-time Daytona 500 winner Earnhardt, an icon in the sport, not only called the race from atop Zilisch’s pit box, but climbed down and helped out on pit stops too. He was absolutely ecstatic after the race in his debut calling the shots. He’s the fifth crew chief this season to earn his first Xfinity Series victory.
“Just a great job putting us in position to succeed, we had a lot of things go our way, a lot of good luck, good race strategy, had a little help from [his former NASCAR Cup Series crew chief Steve] Letarte,” a grinning Earnhardt said, applauding Lindley’s preparation for the weekend.
“Hat’s off to everybody on this team,” he continued. “It’s been amazing all weekend long. Great race car driver. Connor Zilisch is going to be a big deal in this sport for a long time. A lot of fun for me today.”
Zilisch was similarly exuberant, having to really work hard for this win, his second of the season. Ten caution flags on the afternoon created varying strategies and a real test of restart skills.
“I’ve been dying for this one for a while now, I’ve been so close on the ovals lately,” Zilisch said. “I finished second at Charlotte, second at Nashville.
“And Dale Jr., not too bad on the box,” he said smiling, saying he appreciated Earnhardt’s advice throughout the race. “Pretty cool to have him up there. Thank you so much to the entire JR Motorsports team. … this one is definitely special. I’ve been chasing an oval win for a while now.”
For much of the day, Zilisch’s greatest challenge up front came from former NASCAR Cup Series champion Chase Elliott, who is competing in both the Xfinity and Cup Series races this weekend. Elliott led the most laps – 38 of the 100 compared to Zilisch’s 34 out front.
Elliott and the series’ current championship leader, JR Motorsports Justin Allgaier were up front on a restart with 13 laps remaining. While contending for the lead, they nearly came together and had to take evasive action up the track not to collide.
Love took advantage of the situation and came through from the second row to stake claim to the race lead in the No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. A caution came out almost immediately after Love moved to the front and that allowed Zilisch to start directly behind him on that final restart – leaving the trophy up to the two friends to decide.
“That’s the most focused I’ve ever been inside a race car, I did not want Connor to beat me because I’ll have to hear about it for a long time,” said Love, with a smile. “Hats off to him. He ran a good race. Once I was able to get a draft I was able to get back to him. But that bums me out, I’m not going to lie, but I’m still trying to be grateful we have fast race cars and are in position to win. Hats off to Connor.”
Another rookie rounded out the top-three with Kaulig Racing’s Christian Eckes claiming a career best third-place finish in the No. 16 Chevrolet. Elliott rallied to finish fourth and Ryan Seig was fifth in his family-owned Ford.
Carson Kvapil, Sam Mayer, Sammy Smith, rookie Taylor Gray, and Justin Allgaier rounded out the top-10.
The reigning series champion Allgaier now holds an 82-point championship advantage on RCR’s Austin Hill, who was collected in an early-race accident and finished 35th.
