Connor Zilisch Weathers Penalty, Contact To Win NASCAR Xfinity Series Race At COTA

Story By: CIRCUIT OF THE AMERICAS – AUSTIN, TX – The pursuit of a dream weekend at Circuit of The Americas (COTA) continued for Connor Zilisch as he dominated the field to win Saturday’s Focused Health 250 NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) race for his second victory in just seven career NXS races.

After starting from the pole and leading most of Stage One, a pit road penalty relegated the 18-year-old JR Motorsports driver to the rear of the field to start the second stage. With a balance of patience and aggression, the Mooresville, N.C. native carved up the field, moving up to third to start the final stage.

Late-race contact with Corey Heim of Sam Hunt Racing threatened to end the rookie’s charge to the front, but ultimately he got around teammate Carson Kvapil to reclaim the lead with nine laps to go.

“That was way harder than I wanted it to be,” Zilisch said after the race. “I did not drive the clean race I wanted to. It’s been such a fun weekend, but we’ve got a big race tomorrow. Looking forward to that as well.”

Kvapil cut a tire late, relinquishing second place to Daytona 500 winner William Byron of Hendrick Motorsports and ultimately finishing 23rd.

“Our long runs were really good,” Byron said. “My car was just sloppy on the short runs and then I had to try to stay with it on the long run… It was good to get in a rhythm. I think it will help me for tomorrow.”

Sam Mayer of Haas Factory Team finished third, a personal best at COTA. In four career starts, he has never finished worse than ninth.

“We were good enough to get in the top three and get that podium finish,” Mayer said. “We hit everything. We got hit multiple times. This team’s future is really, really bright.”

Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Hill, the series points leader, and Kaulig Racing’s AJ Allmendinger rounded out the top five.

With the victory, Zilisch became just the second full-time NXS driver to win in five years of the Focused Health 250. For the fourth time in five years, the polesitter went on to take the checkered flag.

Zilisch looks to double down in Texas with a strong showing with his NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) debut coming in Sunday’s EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix. He starts 14th in the 37-car field.

NASCAR Xfinity Series Race – Focused Health 250
Circuit of The Americas
Austin, Texas
Saturday, March 1, 2025

• 1. (1) Connor Zilisch #, Chevrolet, 65.
• 2. (3) William Byron(i), Chevrolet, 65.
• 3. (8) Sam Mayer, Ford, 65.
• 4. (12) Austin Hill, Chevrolet, 65.
• 5. (10) Christian Eckes #, Chevrolet, 65.
• 6. (11) Jesse Love, Chevrolet, 65.
• 7. (7) Taylor Gray #, Toyota, 65.
• 8. (2) Ross Chastain(i), Chevrolet, 65.
• 9. (23) William Sawalich #, Toyota, 65.
• 10. (18) Blaine Perkins, Chevrolet, 65.
• 11. (16) Sammy Smith, Chevrolet, 65.
• 12. (14) Sheldon Creed, Ford, 65.
• 13. (9) Riley Herbst(i), Toyota, 65.
• 14. (27) Alex Labbe, Chevrolet, 65.
• 15. (21) Josh Williams, Chevrolet, 65.
• 16. (34) Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, 65.
• 17. (15) Daniel Dye #, Chevrolet, 65.
• 18. (30) Dean Thompson #, Toyota, 65.
• 19. (38) Ryan Sieg, Ford, 65.
• 20. (32) Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, 65.
• 21. (17) Anthony Alfredo, Chevrolet, 65.
• 22. (26) Josh Bilicki, Chevrolet, 65.
• 23. (5) Carson Kvapil #, Chevrolet, 65.
• 24. (19) Nick Sanchez #, Chevrolet, 65.
• 25. (29) Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, 65.
• 26. (20) Austin Green, Chevrolet, 65.
• 27. (36) Kyle Sieg, Ford, 65.
• 28. (35) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 65.
• 29. (4) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 65.
• 30. (13) Brandon Jones, Toyota, 65.
• 31. (6) Corey Heim(i), Toyota, 65.
• 32. (22) Matt DiBenedetto, Chevrolet, 65.
• 33. (33) Kris Wright, Chevrolet, 64.
• 34. (28) Sage Karam, Toyota, Transmission, 58.
• 35. (31) Harrison Burton, Ford, Axle, 55.
• 36. (25) Preston Pardus, Chevrolet, Rear End, 26.
• 37. (37) Baltazar Leguizamon, Chevrolet, Suspension, 17.
• 38. (24) Carson Hocevar(i), Chevrolet, Accident, 3.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 70.095 mph.
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 13 Mins, 32 Secs. Margin of Victory: 1.639 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 4 for 14 laps.
Lead Changes: 14 among 9 drivers.

Lap Leaders: C. Zilisch # 1-5;R. Chastain(i) 6;C. Zilisch # 7-17;W. Byron(i) 18-20;R. Chastain(i) 21;T. Gray # 22-23;J. Love 24;T. Gray # 25;J. Love 26-30;R. Herbst(i) 31-37;H. Burton 38-42;C. Kvapil # 43-45;A. Hill 46-51;C. Kvapil # 52-55;C. Zilisch # 56-65.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Connor Zilisch # 3 times for 26 laps; Carson Kvapil # 2 times for 7 laps; Riley Herbst(i) 1 time for 7 laps; Jesse Love 2 times for 6 laps; Austin Hill 1 time for 6 laps; Harrison Burton 1 time for 5 laps; Taylor Gray # 2 times for 3 laps; William Byron(i) 1 time for 3 laps; Ross Chastain(i) 2 times for 2 laps.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 17,9,24,41,7,21,16,8,42,07
Stage #2 Top Ten: 25,10,8,27,39,44,07,11,53,28