Connor Zilisch was not to be denied a breakthrough moment. Amid a difficult start to the 2025 campaign, he notched a comeback victory in the fifth annual running of the Focused Health 250 at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas, on Saturday, March 1st.
The 18-year-old Zilisch from Charlotte, North Carolina, led three times for a race-high 26 of 65-scheduled laps. He started on the pole and led 16 of the first 17 laps. However, before the first stage’s conclusion, he was penalized for pitting when pit road was closed due to a caution as Baltazar Leguizamon stalled on the frontstretch. Despite restarting towards the tail end of the field, Zilisch methodically maneuvered and carved his way back towards the front amid on-track carnage, including one with teammate Justin Allgaier, during the second stage period.
Then after restarting in third place at the start of the final stage period with 20 laps remaining, Zilisch attempted to execute a bold move beneath teammate Carson Kvapil for the lead. The move, however, resulted in both JR Motorsports’ competitors making contact, briefly going off the track and slipping back to the top-four mark. After rallying from the brief off-track excursion and making contact with Corey Heim that damaged his right-front fender, Zilisch would navigate his way back into the runner-up spot with 14 laps remaining as he proceeded to set his sights on Kvapil for the lead.
After dueling and overtaking Kvapil for the lead through the frontstretch with nine laps remaining, Zilisch would fend off another attack by Kvapil entering COTA’s new National layout during the following lap to retain the top spot. When Kvapil fell off the pace due to losing a right-front tire with five laps remaining, Zilisch maintained a steady gap over William Byron for the remainder of the event that enabled him to achieve his first NASCAR Xfinity Series race victory of the 2025 season.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, February 28, rookie Connor Zilisch scored his first Xfinity pole position of the 2025 season and the second of his career with a pole-winning lap at 88.832 mph in 97.262 seconds. Joining him on the front row was teammate Ross Chastain, who clocked in his best qualifying lap at 88.664 mph in 97.446 seconds.
Prior to the event, a bevy of names, including Jesse Love, Kris Wright, Harrison Burton, Kyle Sieg, Austin Green, Baltazar Leguizamon, Ryan Sieg, Preston Pardus, Ryan Ellis, and Josh Bilicki, dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries.
When the green flag waved and the event commenced, teammates Connor Zilisch and Ross Chastain dueled for the lead through the uphill climb to the first turn. Through the first turn, Zilisch managed to fend off Chastain to retain the top spot entering the second turn as William Byron overtook Chastain for the runner-up spot. Zilisch would proceed to lead the field through the Esses (Turns 3 to 6) before he navigated his way through Circuit of the America’s new National layout (Turns 6A and 6B) and back onto the circuit’s traditional course, starting in Turn 12.
Through the final set of turns from Turn 12 to 20, Zilisch would keep his No. 88 WeatherTech Chevrolet Camaro entry out in front and return to the frontstretch to lead the first lap. Meanwhile, Chastain, who reassumed the runner-up spot from Byron through Turn 12, pursued Zilisch as Byron and Justin Allgaier followed suit in the top four. Meanwhile, Corey Heim, Sam Mayer, rookie Carson Kvapil and AJ Allmendinger all battled fiercely for fifth place.
Over the next three laps, Zilisch would extend his early advantage to nearly a second over teammate Chastain as Byron, Allgaier and Heim pursued in the top five. Behind, Mayer was in sixth place ahead of Kvapil, Austin Hill, rookie Christian Eckes and Sheldon Creed while rookie Taylor Gray, Nick Sanchez, Sammy Smith, Riley Herbst, Anthony Alfredo, Brandon Jones, rookie Daniel Dye, Josh Williams, Blaine Perkins and rookie William Sawalich rounded out the top 20, respectively. Amid the racing towards the front, Ryan Ellis spun in Turn 20, but he proceeded without drawing a caution.
On the fourth lap, the event’s first caution flew when Carson Hocevar, who was filling in for Garrett Smithley in the No. 14 SS-Green Light Racing Chevrolet entry, made contact with Jeb Burton and hit the Turn 6A tire barriers head-on as his event came to an early end.
The start of the following restart period on the sixth lap featured teammates Chastain and Zilisch dueling for the lead through the uphill climb to the first turn for a second time. With the field fanning out, Chastain nearly overtook Zilisch for the lead from the outside lane in Turn 1, but Zilisch fought back entering Turn 2 and the Esses as he maintained the top spot. Behind, Heim and Allgaier made contact while battling for fourth place through the Esses, but both kept their cars racing straight.
Back at the front, Zilisch fended off Chastain through the National layout and a series of right- and left-hand turns, starting in Turn 12, to maintain the top spot and lead the following lap. While Byron pursued in third place, trouble ensued in Turn 20 as Creed made contact with Hill, which caused Creed to spin as Kvapil and Nick Sanchez also spun in the ensuing chaos. The race, though, remained under green flag conditions as the trio who spun proceeded from the carnage scene. Meanwhile, Zilisch continued to lead Chastain and Byron during the next lap.
Through the first 10-scheduled laps, Zilisch was leading by more than a second over Chastain while third-place Byron trailed by more than two seconds. Behind, Heim and Allgaier trailed in the top five by more than four seconds as Mayer, Hill, Herbst, Sammy Smith and Eckes raced in the top 10 ahead of Taylor Gray, Alfredo, Dye, Jesse Love, Perkins, Alex Labbe, Josh Williams, Brandon Jones, Jeb Burton and Sawalich, respectively.
Five laps later, Zilisch stretched his advantage to nearly four seconds over Chastain while Byron, Heim and Allgaier continued to follow suit in the top five. As Mayer, Herbst and Hill trailed in the top-eight mark, Eckes, who rubbed fenders with Sammy Smith earlier, occupied ninth place in front of Gray while Smith was in 11th place.
Another two laps later, early pit strategy ensued as Kvapil and Herbst pitted their respective entries under green. By then, Byron overtook Chastain for the runner-up spot as Heim tried to close in on Chastain for the runner-up spot as more names that included Gray, Love, Ryan Sieg, Brandon Jones, William Sawalich and Jeb Burton all pitted.
With three laps remaining in the first stage period, the caution returned when newcomer Baltazar Leguizamon came to a stop on the frontstretch. By then, Zilisch, who steered his entry to pit road as it was closed due to the caution, pitted his entry from the lead as Byron, who was among many who had yet to pit, cycled into the lead.
The caution by Leguizamon was enough for the first stage period scheduled to conclude on Lap 20 to officially conclude under caution as Byron, this year’s two-time Daytona 500 champion, claimed the stage victory. Chastain, Heim, Mayer and Allgaier followed suit in the top five while Hill, Eckes, Sammy Smith, Alfredo and Alex Labbe were scored in the top 10, respectively.
Under the stage break, nearly the entire field led by Byron pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Byron exited pit road first and he was followed by Hill, Chastain, Allgaier, Mayer, Sammy Smith, Heim, Dye, Eckes and Williams, respectively. Following the pit stops, Gray, who pitted before the first stage’s conclusion, cycled into the lead while Zilisch, who returned to pit road for fuel, was penalized for pitting when pit road was closed on Lap 17.
The second stage period started on Lap 24 as Gray and Love occupied the front row. At the start, Gray and Love dueled for the lead through the uphill climb to Turn 1 until Gray muscled ahead of Love and the field prior to entering Turn 2 and the Esses. Gray would continue to lead through the National course and through Turns 12 to 16 until Love drew his No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet Camaro entry beneath Gray’s No. 54 Operation 300 Toyota Supra entry in a side-by-side battle for the lead through Turns 17 and 18. Both would remain dead even for the lead through the final two turns as Gray led the following lap by a hair.
Shortly after, Love pulled a bold crossover move in front of Herbst to get underneath Gray entering Turn 1. The move allowed Love to force Gray off the track as the former assumed the top spot while also fending off Herbst’s No. 19 Monster Energy Toyota Supra entry entering Turn 2. Despite getting bumped by Herbst in Turn 6A, Love maintained the lead and would lead the following lap over Herbst. Behind, Kvapil battled and overtook Gray for third place as Creed tried to close in. Amid the action towards the front, the race remained under green flag conditions as rookie Dean Thompson spun in Turn 1.
Just past the Lap 27 mark, Love was leading by more than half a second over Herbst. Kvapil, Gray and Creed continued to race in the top five ahead of Ryan Sieg, Brandon Jones, Harrison Burton, Chastain and Byron, respectively. Meanwhile, Zilisch was up to 17th place after he restarted towards the tail end of the field following his pit road penalty.
A lap later, however, the caution flew when Jeremy Clements, who was making his 500th Xfinity career start, spun and hit the tire barrier in Turn 6A, but managed to continue despite knocking down a banner on the barrier.
As the event resumed under green flag conditions on Lap 31, Herbst, who restarted alongside Love on the front row, went on early defense as he rocketed into the lead through the uphill climb to Turn 1. Despite getting bumped by Kvapil through the uphill climb, Herbst fended off Love and Gray to retain the lead through the Esses.
With Herbst leading, Kvapil and Creed pursued Love for the runner-up spot while Gray was overtaken by Chastain for fifth place. Through Turns 12 to 20, Zilisch would return to the top-10 mark as he battled teammate Justin Allgaier and Ryan Sieg for eighth place, though Allgaier had a left-front tire rub due to making contact with Zilisch during the restart. Amid the action within the middle of the field, Herbst led the following lap, which marked the event’s halfway mark, over Love and Kvapil.
By Lap 35, Herbst stabilized his lead to nine-tenths of a second over Kvapil as Chastain, Byron and Creed followed suit ahead of Gray, Love, Hill, Zilisch and Heim, respectively. Meanwhile, Allgaier, who pitted to have his left-front damage diagnosed, was down in 35th place. Allgaier, however, would make a second trip to pit road during the following lap after he cut a right-rear tire to his No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro entry while racing off the course in Turn 19.
Once he returned to the track, Allgaier battled fiercely with Herbst to avoid losing a lap to the leaders, which started through the Esses. This allowed Kvapil and Chastain to close in as Herbst was placed on defense to fend off the latter two for the lead. Despite nearly losing the lead to Kvapil from Turns 12 to 19, Herbst maintained the lead as Kvapil pitted his No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/Clarience Tech Chevrolet Camaro entry under green. In addition, Allgaier remained in front of Herbst to stay on the lead lap category as Chastain then overtook Herbst for the lead on Lap 37.
Soon after, multiple names that included Creed, Love, Zilisch, Gray, Jones, and Eckes pitted with Kvapil under green. With more names that included Chastain, Herbst, Byron, Heim and Hill pitting, Harrison Burton assumed the lead with two laps remaining in the second stage period.
When the second stage period concluded on Lap 40, Harrison Burton, who finished in the top 10 through the first two scheduled events of the 2025 season and is driving for AM Racing, captured his first Xfinity stage victory of the 2025 season. Rookie Daniel Dye followed suit in second along with Sammy Smith, Jeb Burton and Ryan Sieg while Brennan Poole, Alex Labbe, Josh Williams, Sage Karam and Kyle Sieg were scored in the top 10, respectively. By then, Kvapil, Chastain, Byron and Zilisch were mired in the top 15 while Herbst was ranked in the top 20 mark.
During the stage break, some led by Harrison Burton and including Chastain and Herbst pitted while the rest led by Kvapil remained on the track.
Down to the final 20 laps of the event, the final stage commenced as Kvapil and Byron occupied the front row. At the start, Zilisch, who restarted in third place behind teammate Kvapil, wasted no time making his move beneath Kvapil through the uphill climb. Entering Turn 1, however, Kvapil and Zilisch rubbed fenders as both along with Byron went wide and briefly off the course.
This allowed Austill Hill to muscle his No. 21 Global Industrial Chevrolet Camaro entry ahead with the lead and Heim to move into second place while Kvapil, Zilisch, Gray and Byron followed suit through the Esses. As Hill continued to lead through the Esses, the National layout and Turns 12 to 20, Zilisch bumped and sent Heim for a spin in Turn 15. As Heim continued without drawing a caution, Byron and Kvapil overtook Zilisch from Turns 16 to 18 while Hill led the following lap.
Over the next four laps, Hill stretched his late advantage to nearly a second over Kvapil while Zilisch, who sustained damage to his right-front fender amid the contact with Heim, continued on the track in third place ahead of Byron and Gray. Behind, Mayer, Love, Eckes, Blaine Perkins and Sanchez followed suit in the top 10 ahead of Sawalich, Alfredo, Harrison Burton, Ryan Sieg and Chastain. Herbst was mired back in 19th place in front of Creed while Heim pitted his No. 24 Upper Deck Toyota Supra entry under green. Meanwhile, Hill stabilized his lead to nine-tenths of a second over Kvapil with 15 laps remaining.
Then with 14 laps remaining, Kvapil, who had been narrowing Hill’s advantage through every turn, overtook Hill to assume the lead through Turn 12 after Hill got loose and almost missed the turn, which caused him to deviate from his racing line. Teammate Zilisch would follow suit as he rocketed past Hill entering Turn 13. With Hill falling back to third place, Kvapil maintained the lead through the final seven turns to lead the following lap as Zilisch, who had a faint right-front tire rub, was trying to close back in for the lead.
Over the next three laps, Zilisch kept teammate Kvapil close within his sights, but he could not narrow the gap further through every turn, even going as far as smoking his front tires in Turn 20 with 12 laps remaining, as Kvapil maintained the lead. Kvapil would proceed to retain the lead over Zilisch by three-tenths of a second with 10 laps remaining while third-place Hill trailed by more than two seconds. Meanwhile, Byron trailed in fourth place by four seconds while Gray trailed by six seconds in fifth place.
Then a lap later, Zilisch dueled with teammate Kvapil for the lead after Kvapil locked his front tires and nearly missed Turn 20. Zilisch would then lock his front tires through the uphill climb, though he returned atop the leaderboard. Kvapil would keep Zilisch within close distance through the Esses and the National turn, but Zilisch maintained the lead and he would proceed to fend off Kvapil from Turns 12 to 20. With Zilisch leading Kvapil by half a second with eight laps remaining, Hill was racing ahead of Byron in third place while Mayer was in fifth place.
With eight laps remaining, Kvapil got alongside Zilisch as both made light contact in Turn 6A. Zilisch, though, maintained the lead and he would continue to fend off Kvapil’s repeated challenges over the next lap. Zilisch would then slightly extend his lead to eight-tenths of a second with six laps remaining and by more than a second with five laps remaining as Kvapil started to lose ground.
Shortly after, Kvapil’s strong race went south after he lost a right front tire and fell off the pace. As Kvapil was limping his No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/Clarience Tech Chevrolet entry back to pit road, Byron zipped by for the runner-up spot along with Hill, Mayer and Gray. In the process, Zilisch was now leading by more than four seconds with four laps remaining.
With three laps remaining, Zilisch maintained his lead to nearly four seconds over Byron as Mayer fended off Hill for third place. Despite having his advantage decreased to three seconds to Byron during the next lap, Zilisch kept his No. 88 WeatherTech Chevrolet entry atop the leaderboard.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Zilisch remained as the leader by more than two seconds over Byron. Throughout the 17-turn course, Byron closed the deficit to within two seconds, but Zilisch’s large gap was enough for him to smoothly navigate his way through the circuit for a final time as he cycled back to the frontstretch and streaked across the finish line to claim the checkered flag in first place and by more than a second over Byron.
With the victory, Zilisch, who rallied from sustaining DNFs through the first two-scheduled events of the 2025 season, notched his second Xfinity Series career win in his seventh series start and his first since winning his first event at Watkins Glen International in September 2024. Ironically, both of Zilisch’s Xfinity victories have come from pole position and on road-course events. In addition, the Charlotte native recorded the first win of the 2025 season for JR Motorsports and extended Chevrolet’s early winning streak through this season’s first three scheduled events.
“That was tough,” Zilisch said on the frontstretch on the CW Network. “That was way harder than I wanted it to be. I did not drive a clean race at all. I’m sorry to everyone that I hit. I was, kind of, mentally fogged halfway through that race. [I’m] Glad we were able to fight back. This JR Motorsports team gave me a car as fast as Xfinity Mobile. So proud of everyone. WeatherTech, thank you for coming on board. It’s been such a fun weekend, but we got a big race tomorrow. Looking forward to that as well.”
The Xfinity victory accomplished half of Zilisch’s big weekend at COTA. He is scheduled to start in 14th place for his NASCAR Cup Series debut at the circuit while driving the No. 87 Red Bull Chevrolet entry for Trackhouse Racing on Sunday, March 2. Despite having the spotlight being directed to him over his highly anticipated Cup debut while trying to rebound from his difficult Xfinity campaign, Zilisch, who was a favorite during Saturday’s Xfinity event, ignored the talks surrounding him and let both his preparations and on-track performance speak on behalf of him.
“You just can’t let the noise get to you,” Zilisch added. “You got to keep doing your thing no matter what. Whether it’s good talk or bad talk, you just got to keep doing it, prepare the same way and the results will come. I’m so grateful to have so many great people in my life. It’s been a long journey, but grateful to get this one today.”
William Byron, who was making his first of two Xfinity starts in the No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro entry for Hendrick Motorsports, settled in second place while Sam Mayer, Austin Hill and rookie Christian Eckes finished in the top five.
Jesse Love, rookie Taylor Gray, Ross Chastain, rookie William Sawalich and Blaine Perkins completed the top-10 spots in the final running order.
Meanwhile, Carson Kvapil, who led seven laps and contended for his first Xfinity victory before his flat right-front tire issue, ended up in 23rd place.
“Man, it’s tough,” Kvapil said. “It’s tough to get over that one, right? We flat-spotted the right front [tire] just trying to stay with [Zilisch] there. I felt like we were a little bit better in some places, but in others, he could really get away from us. I knew if I just tried to keep my ground up, I would be able to catch him through the Esses. Ultimately, [I] just used [the car] up a little too much there. I feel like we shouldn’t have ran that good, maybe. I guess it was a little bit expected, but at the same time, it’s a little bit of a surprise. Just can’t thank everybody on this whole No. 1 car for making this thing as fast as Xfinity Mobile and all the hard work they put in today.”
Riley Herbst, who also led seven laps, settled in 13th place behind Sammy Smith and Sheldon Creed. In addition, Justin Allgaier came home in 29th place behind Jeremy Clements, Corey Heim ended up in 31st place and Harrison Burton fell back to 35th place due to falling off the pace in the closing laps amid an axle issue.
There were 14 lead changes for nine different leaders. The race featured four cautions for 14 laps. In addition, 32 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.
Following the third event of the 2025 Xfinity Series season, Austin Hill leads the regular-season standings by 13 points over teammate Jesse Love, 14 over Sheldon Creed, 28 over Sam Mayer and 32 over Justin Allgaier.
Race Results:
1. Connor Zilisch, 26 laps led
2. William Byron, three laps led, Stage 1 winner
3. Sam Mayer
4. Austin Hill, six laps led
5. Christian Eckes
6. Jesse Love, six laps led
7. Taylor Gray, three laps led
8. Ross Chastain, two laps led
9. William Sawalich
10. Blaine Perkins
11. Sammy Smith
12. Sheldon Creed
13. Riley Herbst, seven laps led
14. Alex Labbe
15. Josh Williams
16. Ryan Ellis
17. Daniel Dye
18. Dean Thompson
19. Ryan Sieg
20. Brennan Poole
21. Anthony Alfredo
22. Josh Bilicki
23. Carson Kvapil, seven laps led
24. Nick Sanchez
25. Jeb Burton
26. Austin Green
27. Kyle Sieg
28. Jeremy Clements
29. Justin Allgaier
30. Brandon Jones
31. Corey Heim
32. Matt DiBenedetto
33. Kris Wright, one lap down
34. Sage Karam – OUT, Transmission
35. Harrison Burton – OUT, Axle, five laps led, Stage 2 winner
36. Preston Pardus – OUT, Rear End
37. Baltazar Leguizamon – OUT, Suspension
38. Carson Hocevar – OUT, Accident
Next on the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Arizona, for the GOVX 200. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, March 8, and air at 5 p.m. ET on the CW Network.
