Rookie Connor Zilisch scored his first NASCAR Xfinity Series pole position of the 2025 season for the fifth annual running of the Focused Health 250 at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas, on Friday, February 28.
The event’s starting lineup was determined through a single qualifying round, where the entered competitors were split into two groups, Group A and Group B, after the event’s practice session. The competitors in each group were given 20 minutes to post a qualifying lap. After the time trials, the driver posting the overall fastest lap time is awarded the pole position.
Zilisch, who qualified in Group A, wheeled his No. 88 WeatherTech/JR Motorsports (JRM) Chevrolet Camaro entry to a pole-winning lap at 88.832 mph in 97.262 seconds, which was enough to outduel his JRM teammate Ross Chastain.
With the pole, Zilisch, an 18-year-old prodigy from Charlotte, North Carolina, achieved his second Xfinity Series career pole in his seventh series start for Saturday’s main event at COTA. His first pole and first win occurred at Watkins Glen International in August 2024 in his series debut. Ironically, Zilisch notched his first Craftsman Truck Series pole at COTA a year ago and rallied from overshooting the first turn on the opening lap followed by spinning and cutting the course to finish in fourth place.
Currently, Zilisch is ranked in 32nd place in the 2025 Xfinity driver’s standings after recording back-to-back DNFS at Daytona International Speedway and Atlanta Motor Speedway. Amid the difficult start, the Charlotte native set aside the spotlight beaming on him at a track where he was deemed the favorite to win and shifted his focus to posting a strong result and contending for a victory.
This weekend is also a big one for Zilisch in his Cup Series debut with Trackhouse Racing in the No. 87 Red Bull Chevrolet entry at COTA on Sunday, March 2.
“I don’t think there’s a target on my back,” Zilisch said on the CW Network. “I feel like we’re just gonna go out there tomorrow and execute our race and do what we know to do. We’ve got a really fast WeatherTech Chevrolet. We’re excited for the race tomorrow. Looking to make the most out of it. Hopefully, it’ll be a fun battle between [me and teammate Ross Chastain], have a good, clean race and hopefully get through Turn 1 tomorrow.”
Zilisch will share the front row with Ross Chastain, a former Cup Series race winner at COTA who clocked in his best qualifying lap at 88.664 mph in 97.446 seconds. Chastain, a 32-year-old veteran from Alva, Florida, will make his first of five scheduled Xfinity starts in JRM’s No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro entry on Saturday.
William Byron, this year’s two-time Daytona 500 champion is making his first of two Xfinity starts in 2025 He will line up in third place after he posted his best qualifying lap at 87.951 mph in 98.236 seconds. Byron, like Zilisch, is a Charlotte native and will pilot the No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro entry for Hendrick Motorsports, a team that won last year’s Xfinity event at COTA with Kyle Larson.
Justin Allgaier and rookie Carson Kvapil, who are teammates with Zilisch and Chastain at JRM, completed the top-five starting grid. Corey Heim, rookie Taylor Gray, Sam Mayer, Riley Herbst and rookie Christian Eckes will start in the top 10, respectively.
Drivers Jesse Love, Austin Hill, Brandon Jones, Sheldon Creed and rookie Daniel Dye qualified in the top 15, respectively. Sammy Smith, Anthony Alfredo, Blaine Perkins, rookie Nick Sanchez and Austin Green will start in the top 20. Josh Williams, rookie William Sawalich, Carson Hocevar, Sage Karam, Jeb Burton, Harrison Burton, Jeremy Clements and Ryan Sieg. They will start in 21st, 23rd, 24th, 28th, 29th, 31st, 35th and 38th, respectively.
Notably, Baltazar Leguizamon will make his series debut on Saturday in the No. 35 entry for Joey Gase Motorsport and will start 37th. He will become the first Argentinian to compete in an Xfinity event.
With 41 competitors vying for 38 starting spots, Parker Retzlaff, Brad Perez and Thomas Annunziata were the trio who failed the qualify for the main event.
Qualifying position, best speed, best time:
1. Connor Zilisch, 88.832 mph, 97.262 seconds
2. Ross Chastain, 88.664 mph, 97.446 seconds
3. William Byron, 87.951 mph, 98.236 seconds
4. Justin Allgaier, 87.814 mph, 98.39 seconds
5. Carson Kvapil, 87.729 mph, 98.485 seconds
6. Corey Heim, 87.68 mph, 98.54 seconds
7. Taylor Gray, 87.659 mph, 98.564 seconds
8. Sam Mayer, 87.624 mph, 98.603 seconds
9. Riley Herbst, 87.615 mph, 98.613 seconds
10. Christian Eckes, 87.501 mph, 98.742 seconds
11. Jesse Love, 87.413 mph, 98.841 seconds
12. Austin Hill, 87.403 mph, 98.852 seconds
13. Brandon Jones, 87.372 mph, 98.887 seconds
14. Sheldon Creed, 87.266 mph, 99.008 seconds
15. Daniel Dye, 87.189 mph, 99.095 seconds
16. Sammy Smith, 87.171 mph, 99.115 seconds
17. Anthony Alfredo, 87.1 mph, 99.196 seconds
18. Blaine Perkins, 87.056 mph, 99.247 seconds
19. Nick Sanchez, 87.055 mph, 99.248 seconds
20. Austin Green, 86.998 mph, 99.313 seconds
21. Josh Williams, 86.894 mph, 99.431 seconds
22. Matt DiBenedetto, 86.887 mph, 99.439 seconds
23. William Sawalich, 86.843 mph, 99.49 seconds
24. Carson Hocevar, 86.771 mph, 99.572 seconds
25. Preston Pardus, 86.544 mph, 99.834 seconds
26. Josh Bilicki, 86.408 mph, 99.991 seconds
27. Alex Labbe, 86.35 mph, 100.058 seconds
28. Sage Karam, 86.32 mph, 100.093 seconds
29. Jeb Burton, 86.215 mph, 100.214 seconds
30. Dean Thompson, 86.19 mph, 100.244 seconds
31. Harrison Burton, 86.084 mph, 100.367 seconds
32. Brennan Poole, 86.029 mph, 100.431 seconds
33. Kris Wright, 85.947 mph, 100.527 seconds
34. Ryan Ellis, 85.916 mph, 100.563 seconds
35. Jeremy Clements, 85.819 mph, 100.677 seconds
36. Kyle Sieg, 85.317 mph, 101.269 seconds
37. Baltazar Leguizamon, 84.631 mph, 102.09 seconds
38. Ryan Sieg, 0.000 mph, 0.000 seconds
The 2025 Focused Health 250 at Circuit of the Americas is set to occur on Saturday, March 1, and air at 2:30 p.m. ET on the CW Network.
