Connor Zilisch led a historic JR Motorsports’ sweep of the top-five starting spots by claiming the pole position for the Blue Cross NC 250 Playoffs race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course (Roval) on Saturday, October 4.
The event’s starting lineup was determined through a single qualifying round, where the entered competitors were split into two groups after the event’s 50-minute 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.
During the event’s qualifying trials, Zilisch, who qualified in the second group, posted a pole-winning lap at 96.503 mph in 85.054 seconds.
With the pole, Zilisch, a 19-year-old Charlotte, North Carolina native and driver of the No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro entry, notched his eighth NASCAR Xfinity Series career pole, his seventh of the 2025 season, his sixth on road-course events and his first at the Charlotte Roval, his home track.
Currently, Zilisch, a nine-time race winner this season, is one of 12 Playoff contenders contending in the 2025 Xfinity Series Playoffs. While Saturday’s Charlotte Roval event marks both the Round of 12 finale and a Playoff elimination event that will conclude four contenders’ hopes for a championship, Zilisch is one of three competitors who are guaranteed spots to the next round, the Round of 8, as the Charlotte native has accumulated enough points to proceed towards his quest to contend for the series’ championship.
“[I’m] Just really proud of JR Motorsports [and] the cars we’re bringing to the track each week,” Zilisch said. “It’s a lot of fun for all five of us [JR Motorsports drivers] that are here driving [the cars]. Hopefully, we can have a good day today later in the race.”
“Momentum is everything in this sport and also five more [Playoff] points would be great,” Zilisch added. “We’re gonna be flipping stages and doing all we can to put ourselves in a position to go out and win the race. Fingers crossed [that] we have a clean day. Yesterday was chaotic, but hopefully, I can be a little smoother today.”
Zilisch will share the front row with teammate Justin Allgaier, the latter of whom posted his fastest qualifying lap at 95.984 mph in 85.514 seconds. Like Zilisch, Allgaier is also guaranteed a spot in the Playoffs’ Round of 8 based on points.
Teammate Connor Mosack, who was the fastest competitor in the first group at 95.668 mph in 85.797 seconds, will start in third place alongside teammate Sammy Smith, while teammate Carson Kvapil rounded out the top-five starting spots in fifth place. As a result, JR Motorsports became the first organization to sweep the first five starting spots for an upcoming NASCAR national touring series event.
Corey Day, who is scheduled to make his eighth Xfinity start of the 2025 season driving for Hendrick Motorsports, will start in sixth place. He will be followed by Playoff contenders Sam Mayer and Jesse Love. Kaz Grala and Austin Green completed the top-10 starting spots.
With six of 12 Playoff contenders qualifying in the top 10 for the Charlotte Roval event, the remaining Playoff contenders that included Sheldon Creed, Nick Sanchez, Austin Hill, Taylor Gray, Brandon Jones and Harrison Burton qualified 13th, 14th, 16th, 17th, 23rd and 28th, respectively. Jones is the third competitor alongside Zilisch and Allgaier, who are guaranteed a spot in the Round of 8 after he won last weekend’s event at Kansas Speedway.
With 42 competitors vying for 38 starting spots, Garrett Smithley, Thomas Annunziata, Austin J. Hill and Andrew Patterson were the four competitors who did not qualify for the event.
Qualifying position, Best speed, Best time: Charlotte
1. Connor Zilisch, 96.503 mph, 85.054 seconds
2. Justin Allgaier, 95.984 mph, 85.514 seconds
3. Connor Mosack, 95.668 mph, 85.797 seconds
4. Sammy Smith, 95.472 mph, 85.973 seconds
5. Carson Kvapil, 95.390 mph, 86.047 seconds
6. Corey Day, 95.154 mph, 86.260 seconds
7. Sam Mayer, 95.027 mph, 86.375 seconds
8. Jesse Love, 95.011 mph, 86.390 seconds
9. Kaz Grala, 94.987 mph, 86.412 seconds
10. Austin Green, 94.921 mph, 86.472 seconds
11. Aric Almirola, 94.873 mph, 86.516 seconds
12. Brennan Poole, 94.854 mph, 86.533 seconds
13. Sheldon Creed, 94.819 mph, 86.565 seconds
14. Nick Sanchez, 94.792 mph, 86.590 seconds
15. William Sawalich, 94.772 mph, 86.608 seconds
16. Austin Hill, 94.718 mph, 86.657 seconds
17. Taylor Gray, 94.716 mph, 86.659 seconds
18. Christian Eckes, 94.712 mph, 86.663 seconds
19. Preston Pardus, 94.633 mph, 86.735 seconds
20. Matt DiBenedetto, 94.574 mph, 86.789 seconds
21. Alex Labbe, 94.516 mph, 86.842 seconds
22. Ryan Sieg, 94.432 mph, 86.920 seconds
23. Brandon Jones, 94.288 mph, 87.052 seconds
24. Josh Bilicki, 94.282 mph, 87.058 seconds
25. Sage Karam, 94.254 mph, 87.084 seconds
26. Parker Retzlaff, 94.231 mph, 87.105 seconds
27. Daniel Hemric, 94.222 mph, 87.113 seconds
28. Harrison Burton, 94.175 mph, 87.157 seconds
29. Ryan Ellis, 93.996 mph, 87.323 seconds
30. Jeb Burton, 93.943 mph, 87.372 seconds
31. Leland Honeyman, 93.799 mph, 87.506 seconds
32. Josh Williams, 93.787 mph, 87.517 seconds
33. Dean Thompson, 93.739 mph, 87.562 seconds
34. Anthony Alfredo, 93.651 mph, 87.645 seconds
35. Blaine Perkins, 93.631 mph, 87.663 seconds
36. Jeremy Clements, 93.121 mph, 88.143 seconds
37. Kyle Sieg, 92.732 mph, 88.513 seconds
38. Daniel Dye, 92.223 mph, 89.002 seconds
*Bold indicates Playoff contenders.
The 2025 Blue Cross NC 250 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course is scheduled to occur on Saturday, October 4, and air at 5 p.m. ET on the CW Network, PRN Radio and SiriusXM.
