Connor Zilisch did not have the simplest path to victory in Saturday’s Targeted Well being 250 at Circuit of the Americas, however his crushed and battered No. 88 obtained the job completed in crunch time.
After ranging from the pole, Zilisch was penalized on the finish of Stage 1 for pitting when pit street was closed. After charging by means of the sector, contact with a plethora of drivers in Stage 3 broken Zilisch’s Chevrolet. Within the closing laps, he was being hounded by fellow rookie and JR Motorsports teammate Carson Kvapil.
Nevertheless, Zilisch remained poised. As he and Kvapil traded blows, Kvapil’s right-front tire took an excessive amount of abuse, and ultimately went flat with 5 laps to go.
From there, it was easy crusing for Zilisch, who earned his second Xfinity Sequence win in his seventh Xfinity Sequence begin. The 18-year-old phenom from Mooresville, North Carolina, will make his Cup Sequence debut at COTA on Sunday.
“That was means tougher than I wished it to be,” Zilisch told CW Sports activities. “I didn’t drive a clear race in any respect. I am sorry to everybody I hit, I used to be type of mentally fogged midway by means of that race. I am glad we had been capable of struggle again, so happy with everybody. It has been a enjoyable weekend, (and) we have now a giant race tomorrow.”
William Byron, Sam Mayer, Austin Hill and Christian Eckes rounded out the top-five, with Jesse Love, Taylor Grey, Ross Chastain, William Sawalich and Blaine Perkins finishing the top-10.
Different notable finishers embody Sheldon Creed in twelfth, Riley Herbst in thirteenth, Kvapil in twenty third, Justin Allgaier in twenty ninth and Carson Hocevar in thirty eighth.
The fourth race of the 2025 Xfinity Sequence season will happen on March 8 at Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Arizona.
