Connor Zilisch cruised to victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) Mission 200 at Watkins Glen International.
Zilisch drove away from Sam Mayer and Sammy Smith after a restart with four laps to go, following a big multi-car crash that placed the race into red flag conditions.
With this win, Zilisch earned his sixth win of the season and is in a great position for the NXS playoffs.
Zilisch’s victory lane celebration didn’t last long. While climbing out of his car, he slipped with his feet tangled in the netting and fell hard onto the pavement. Safety crews secured him to a backboard and loaded him into an ambulance.
Team owner, JR Motorsports, posted the following update on social media.
“As stated in the media center by NASCAR, Connor Zilisch is awake and alert and being transported to a local hospital for further evaluations.”
Update: Zilisch posted to social media Saturday night about the nature of his injuries, indicating that his collarbone was broken.
The ending of the race was chaotic as Zilisch made contact with his teammate Shane Van Gisbergen with 17 laps to go, battling for the lead. Van Gisbergen’s race ended early as he headed to the garage, finishing 31st.
Then, on Lap 74, the caution and red flag came out after a huge multi-car crash that brought out the red flag.
It began as Michael McDowell was turned by Austin Hill off of Turn 5. The drivers involved included Jesse Love, Preston Pardus, Daniel Dye, William Sawalich, Kaz Grala, Dean Thompson, Jeb Burton, Kyle Sieg, Ryan Sieg, Anthony Alfredo, Nick Sanchez, Taylor Gray, Ryan Ellis, and Josh Bilicki.
The race restarted on Lap 79 with Zilisch capturing the victory by a margin of 2.326 seconds over Sam Mayer. Sammy Smith, Austin Hill, and Carson Kvapil rounded out the top 5 finishers.
The race featured 17 lead changes among nine drivers, and seven caution flags for 20 laps.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series heads to Daytona International Speedway for the Wawa 250 Powered By Coca-Cola on Friday, August 22, at 7:30 pm ET on the CW Network.
After the Mission 200 at The Glen, Connor Zilisch leads the series standings over Justin Allgaier by 7 points, Sam Mayer by 24 points, Jesse Love by 92 points, and Austin Hill by 133 points.
The Xfinity Series has a week off but returns on Friday, Aug. 22, at Daytona International Speedway for the Wawa 250 Powered By Coca-Cola at 7:30 p.m. ET. It will be broadcast on The CW with radio coverage provided by MRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
NASCAR Xfinity Series Race Number 23
Race Results for the Mission 200 At The Glen – Saturday, August 9, 2025
Watkins Glen International – Watkins Glen, NY – 2.45 – Mile Road
| Pos | St | No | Driver | Team | Laps | S1 | S2 | S3 | Points | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 88 | Connor Zilisch # | Registix Chevrolet | 82 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 51 | Running |
| 2 | 4 | 41 | Sam Mayer | Audibel Ford | 82 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 43 | Running |
| 3 | 6 | 8 | Sammy Smith | Pilot Chevrolet | 82 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 36 | Running |
| 4 | 10 | 21 | Austin Hill | Bennett Transportation Chevrolet | 82 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 40 | Running |
| 5 | 14 | 1 | Carson Kvapil # | Bass Pro Shops/Clarience Tech Chevrolet | 82 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 38 | Running |
| 6 | 9 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | BRANDT Chevrolet | 82 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 44 | Running |
| 7 | 18 | 32 | Austin Green | 3Dimensional.com Chevrolet | 82 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 31 | Running |
| 8 | 36 | 16 | Christian Eckes # | Celsius Chevrolet | 82 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | Running |
| 9 | 13 | 20 | Brandon Jones | Menards/Pelonis Toyota | 82 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 | Running |
| 10 | 17 | 25 | Harrison Burton | AirBox Ford | 82 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 32 | Running |
| 11 | 8 | 24 | Kaz Grala(i) | Overplay Games Toyota | 82 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Running |
| 12 | 31 | 44 | Brennan Poole | Macc/E-Z Lift Garage Doors Chevrolet | 82 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | Running |
| 13 | 19 | 26 | Dean Thompson # | Thompson Pipe Group Toyota | 82 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 28 | Running |
| 14 | 15 | 2 | Jesse Love | Samsara Chevrolet | 82 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 29 | Running |
| 15 | 30 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | All Weather Power Equipment Chevrolet | 82 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | Running |
| 16 | 23 | 27 | Jeb Burton | Bommarito.com Chevrolet | 82 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | Running |
| 17 | 21 | 10 | Daniel Dye # | Race to Stop Suicide Chevrolet | 82 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | Running |
| 18 | 3 | 54 | Taylor Gray # | Operation 300 Toyota | 82 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 28 | Running |
| 19 | 26 | 45 | Stefan Parsons(i) | Mongoose Power Solutions Chevrolet | 82 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Running |
| 20 | 38 | 53 | Austin J. Hill | Southern Ohio Equipment Co. Chevrolet | 82 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | Running |
| 21 | 35 | 35 | Glen Reen | Eternal Fan Toyota | 82 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | Running |
| 22 | 22 | 4 | Parker Retzlaff | Monroe Kitchen Chevrolet | 82 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 18 | Running |
| 23 | 32 | 31 | Blaine Perkins | Warrior Health Foundation Chevrolet | 80 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | Running |
| 24 | 7 | 48 | Nick Sanchez # | Borchetta Bourbon Chevrolet | 75 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 20 | Accident |
| 25 | 12 | 11 | Michael McDowell(i) | Different Night Same Rodeo Chevrolet | 73 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | Accident |
| 26 | 5 | 18 | William Sawalich # | Soundgear Toyota | 73 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | Accident |
| 27 | 27 | 91 | Josh Bilicki | Trim-Tex Chevrolet | 73 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | Accident |
| 28 | 29 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | Sci Aps Ford | 73 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 11 | Accident |
| 29 | 33 | 71 | Ryan Ellis | Tablo Chevrolet | 73 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | Accident |
| 30 | 28 | 28 | Kyle Sieg | Monroe Extinguisher Ford | 73 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | Accident |
| 31 | 2 | 9 | Shane Van Gisbergen(i) | Kubota Chevrolet | 64 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | Accident |
| 32 | 20 | 42 | Anthony Alfredo | Dude Wipes Chevrolet | 63 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | Running |
| 33 | 24 | 99 | Matt DiBenedetto | Viking Motorsports Chevrolet | 52 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 5 | Suspension |
| 34 | 34 | 7 | Preston Pardus | Priority Tire Chevrolet | 52 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | Running |
| 35 | 11 | 0 | Sheldon Creed | Road Ranger Ford | 50 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 14 | Accident |
| 36 | 16 | 19 | Riley Herbst(i) | Monster Energy Toyota | 39 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Engine |
| 37 | 25 | 70 | Thomas Annunziata | Bayshore Mortgage Chevrolet | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | Accident |
| 38 | 37 | 14 | Garrett Smithley | Bully Hill Vineyards Chevrolet | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | Engine |
