Connor Zilisch won the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at World Wide Technology Raceway (Gateway) by 1.506 seconds over William Sawalich. It was his ninth win of the season and earned him the Regular Season championship. He dominated the race, leading four times for 121 of 160 laps.
Looking ahead to the Playoffs, Zilisch said, “This is going to be tough to keep up. It’s rare that you can go on a run like this, and every week I show up and think that this is the weekend where we just go and run eighth, and just aren’t great.
“But every week we show up and have a winning race car, my pit crew executes, my team executes, everybody does their jobs and we end up doing burnouts on the front stretch. And, he continued, “This is the most wins JR Motorsports has ever had in a year, so it’s really cool to do that as well.”
The victory sets a new record for JR Motorsports with 16 wins in a season and Zilisch is also just one of only three drivers who have won four straight races in the series, joining the ranks of Sam Ard and Noah Gragson
Christian Eckes, Brandon Jones, and Jesse Love completed the top five at Gateway. Aric Almirola, Daniel Hemric, Parker Retzlaff, Corey Day, and Daniel Dye rounded out the top-10.
Drivers who will participate in the playoffs based on wins are Zilisch (9), Justin Allgaier (3), Austin Hill (3), Sam Mayer (1), Jesse Love (1), Brandon Jones (1), Sammy Smith (1), and Nick Sanchez (1).
Taylor Gray, Harrison Burton, Travis Kvapil, and Sheldon Creed secured Playoff spots based on points.
Xfinity Series Points Standings after Gateway
| Pos | Driver | No | Points | Behind | Next |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Connor Zilisch | 88 | 2064 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | Justin Allgaier | 7 | 2035 | -29 | 29 |
| 3 | Sam Mayer | 41 | 2016 | -48 | 19 |
| 4 | Jesse Love | 2 | 2013 | -51 | 3 |
| 5 | Brandon Jones | 20 | 2013 | -51 | 0 |
| 6 | Sammy Smith | 8 | 2009 | -55 | 4 |
| 7 | Nick Sanchez | 48 | 2006 | -58 | 3 |
| 8 | Carson Kvapil | 1 | 2005 | -59 | 1 |
| 9 | Taylor Gray | 54 | 2005 | -59 | 0 |
| 10 | Sheldon Creed | 0 | 2003 | -61 | 2 |
| 11 | Harrison Burton | 25 | 2002 | -62 | 1 |
| 12 | Austin Hill | 21 | 2000 | -64 | 2 |
The Xfinity Series Playoffs Round of 12 will begin Friday, September 12th, at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Race Results:
NASCAR Xfinity Series Race Number 26
Race Results for the Nu Way 200 Sauced by Blues Hog – Saturday, September 6, 2025
World Wide Technology Raceway – Madison, IL – 1.25 – Mile Paved
| Pos | St | No | Driver | Team | Laps | S1 | S2 | S3 | Points | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 88 | Connor Zilisch | WeatherTech Chevrolet | 160 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 59 | Running |
| 2 | 3 | 18 | William Sawalich | Soundgear Toyota | 160 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 50 | Running |
| 3 | 10 | 16 | Christian Eckes | Celsius Chevrolet | 160 | 10 | 8 | 0 | 38 | Running |
| 4 | 12 | 20 | Brandon Jones | Menards/Pennington Toyota | 160 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 37 | Running |
| 5 | 18 | 2 | Jesse Love | Whelen Chevrolet | 160 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 41 | Running |
| 6 | 7 | 19 | Aric Almirola | Young Life Toyota | 160 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 49 | Running |
| 7 | 17 | 11 | Daniel Hemric(i) | Action Industries Chevrolet | 160 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Running |
| 8 | 26 | 4 | Parker Retzlaff | Advion Chevrolet | 160 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | Running |
| 9 | 16 | 17 | Corey Day | HendrickCars.com Chevrolet | 160 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 | Running |
| 10 | 11 | 10 | Daniel Dye | Race to Stop Suicide Chevrolet | 160 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 | Running |
| 11 | 23 | 99 | Matt DiBenedetto | IBEW Chevrolet | 160 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | Running |
| 12 | 9 | 21 | Austin Hill | Bennett Transportation Chevrolet | 160 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 34 | Running |
| 13 | 21 | 42 | Anthony Alfredo | Botticelli Chevrolet | 160 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | Running |
| 14 | 27 | 44 | Brennan Poole | ARS Construction Chevrolet | 160 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 | Running |
| 15 | 31 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | Alliance Driveway Solutions Chevrolet | 160 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | Running |
| 16 | 30 | 26 | Dean Thompson | Toyota Genuine Parts Toyota | 160 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | Running |
| 17 | 5 | 54 | Taylor Gray | Operation 300 Toyota | 160 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 22 | Running |
| 18 | 32 | 71 | Ryan Ellis | Anew Transport x ROSCH Chevrolet | 160 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | Running |
| 19 | 36 | 45 | Lavar Scott | Foxxtecca Chevrolet | 160 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | Running |
| 20 | 29 | 70 | Thomas Annunziata | Bayshore Mortgage Chevrolet | 160 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | Running |
| 21 | 37 | 91 | Matt Mills(i) | J.F. Electric Chevrolet | 160 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Running |
| 22 | 6 | 25 | Harrison Burton | DEX Imaging/Dead On Tools Ford | 160 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | Running |
| 23 | 25 | 31 | Blaine Perkins | Bommarito Automotive Group Chevrolet | 160 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | Running |
| 24 | 20 | 28 | Kyle Sieg | Sustainachem Ford | 160 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | Running |
| 25 | 2 | 48 | Nick Sanchez | Big Machine Label Group Chevrolet | 160 | 5 | 9 | 0 | 20 | Running |
| 26 | 38 | 53 | Joey Gase | Mid-America Transplant Chevrolet | 160 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | Running |
| 27 | 13 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | Sci Aps Ford | 160 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | Running |
| 28 | 14 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | BRANDT Chevrolet | 160 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 26 | Running |
| 29 | 34 | 7 | Nick Leitz | Camion/Kaplan Liquid Solutions Chevrolet | 160 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | Running |
| 30 | 15 | 0 | Sheldon Creed | Road Ranger Ford | 158 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | Running |
| 31 | 35 | 35 | Glen Reen | Toyota | 158 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | Running |
| 32 | 33 | 14 | Garrett Smithley | Over The Wall/Knight Fire Protection Chevrolet | 158 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | Running |
| 33 | 22 | 8 | Sammy Smith | Pilot Chevrolet | 157 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | Running |
| 34 | 24 | 76 | Kole Raz | Cyclum Next Gen Travel Centers Ford | 145 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | Running |
| 35 | 4 | 41 | Sam Mayer | Audibel Ford | 134 | 6 | 10 | 0 | 8 | Accident |
| 36 | 19 | 27 | Jeb Burton | Onder Law Injury Attorneys Chevrolet | 109 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | Accident |
| 37 | 8 | 1 | Carson Kvapil | Bass Pro Shops/Claritence Tech Chevrolet | 38 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | Engine |
| 38 | 28 | 32 | Jordan Anderson | Volpi Chevrolet | 33 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | Accident |
