Connor Zilisch wins Xfinity race at Pocono with Dale Earnhardt Jr. serving as crew chief: In a day of varying strategies and dramatic restarts among the front runners, JR Motorsports rookie Connor Zilisch prevailed in a late race sprint to the checkered flag in Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series’ Explore the Pocono Mountains 250 at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway – the first oval win of this young talent’s career. (Read more)(NASCAR)

Making a pass for the lead with four laps remaining, #88-Connor Zilisch won the Explore the Pocono Mountains 250 Xfinity Series race at Pocono Raceway with NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. serving as crew chief. It’s the third career win for Zilisch, but his first on an oval.
#2-Jesse Love finished runner-up, scoring his first top-five finish since Talladega. #16-Christian Eckes bettered his best career finish from last week with a third-place effort at Pocono. #17-Chase Elliott led a race-high 38 laps and rebounded to fourth after a late mishap with #7-Justin Allgaier on a restart. #39-Ryan Sieg rounded out the top five.
#1-Carson Kvapil, #41-Sam Mayer, #8-Sammy Smith, #54-Taylor Gray and #7-Allgaier complete the top 10.
#20-Brandon Jones won the opening stage, his first stage victory since 2022. #88-Zilisch won Stage 2, earning six playoff points throughout the race.
There were 10 lead changes among seven drivers and 10 cautions for 41 yellow flag laps.
The average speed of the race was 103.722 mph.
See race details at: Race Results, Driver Points Standings, Owner Points Standings, Cumulative Report, Penalty Report.

Pocono Paint Schemes

Race Fast Facts – Pocono Raceway:
Connor Zilisch # won the Explore the Pocono Mountains 250, his third victory in 19 Xfinity Series races.
This is his second victory and seventh top-10 finish in 2025.
This is his first victory and first top-10 finish in one race at Pocono Raceway.
Jesse Love (second) posted his first top-10 finish in two races at Pocono Raceway. It is his 10th top-10 finish in 2025.
Christian Eckes # (third) posted his first top-10 finish in one race at Pocono Raceway.
Connor Zilisch (first) was the highest finishing rookie.
Justin Allgaier leads the point standings by 82 points over Austin Hill.

Xfinity Series Playoff Standings after Pocono (Race 16 of 33):
1)#7-Justin Allgaier 3 wins (21 playoff points, regular season championship leader)
2)#21-Austin Hill 3 wins (21 playoff points)
3)#88-Connor Zilisch 2 win (13 playoff points)
4)#8-Sammy Smith 1 win (7 playoff points)
5)#2-Jesse Love 1 win (6 playoff points)
6)#20-Brandon Jones 1 win (6 playoff points)
7)#41-Sam Mayer 518, +118
8)#1-Carson Kvapil 442, +42
9)#27-Jeb Burton 424, +24
10)#00-Sheldon Creed 420, +20
11)#39-Ryan Sieg 418, +18
12)#54-Taylor Gray 411, +11
Currently below elimination line
13)#25-Harrison Burton 400, -11
14)#48-Nick Sanchez 385, -26
15)#16-Christian Eckes 356, -55
16)#10-Daniel Dye 336, -75
See the Driver Points Standings and Owner Points Standings.

Race Updates:
Lap 100: #88-Zilisch wins at Pocono. #2-Love, #16-Eckes, #17-Elliott, #39-Sieg, #1-Kvapil, #41-Mayer, #8-Smith, #54-Gray and #7-Allgaier round out the top 10.
Lap 99: #88-Zilisch leads by four-tenths of a second over #2-Love at the white flag.
Lap 96: #88-Zilisch noses ahead of #2-Love for the lead with four laps remaining and clears for the lead off Turn 1.
Lap 94: #2-Love clears for the lead on the restart. #88-Zilisch passes #16-Eckes for second position. #39-Sieg had a strong restart and is up to fourth.
Lap 89: #28-Sieg spun off Turn 2 to bring out a track record 10th caution.
Lap 87: #7-Allgaier gets loose entering Turn 1, washing #17-Elliott up the track. #2-Love sneaks by with the race lead. #16-Eckes, #88-Zilisch, #8-Smith and #41-Mayer are the top five. Elliott dropped to sixth. Allgaier fell to 13th.
Lap 83: #48-Sanchez gets loose off Turn 1 on the restart and backed into the inside wall. Trying to avoid the spin, #00-Creed clipped the inside wall.
Lap 78: #26-Thompson got loose into the Tunnel Turn and tagged #71-Ellis who backed into the outside wall.
Lap 75: #2-Love passes #88-Zilisch on the restart and washes up the track, allowing #17-Elliott to get by both to reclaim the lead.
Lap 72: The rest of the field pits under caution, with #17-Elliott being the first of the leaders off pit road. #88-Zilisch cycles to the lead.
Lap 70: #14-Smithley spins off Turn 2 battling #71-Ellis to bring out the caution.
Lap 67: #17-Elliott closed the gap to a half-second before #88-Zilisch pits for the final scheduled time. #2-Love also pitted from fourth.
Lap 63: #17-Elliott clears #2-Love for second and is 2.2 seconds off the race lead.
Lap 59: #17-Elliott passes #7-Allgaier for third position to be the highest running driver of cars with fresher tires.
Lap 56: #88-Zilisch clears #2-Love for the lead on the restart. #7-Allgaier files into third spot with #16-Eckes and #17-Elliott close behind.
Lap 50: #88-Zilisch wins Stage 2, his third stage victory of the season. #54-Gray, #48-Sanchez, #2-Love, #16-Eckes, #39-Sieg, #7-Allgaier, #8-Smith, #1-Kvapil and #27-Burton score stage points.
Lap 45: #88-Zilisch keeps the lead on the restart. #48-Sanchez, #54-Gray, #39-Sieg and #2-Love are the top five.
Lap 41: The top two of #7-Allgaier and #17-Elliott pit. #41-Mayer, #25-Burton, #18-Sawalich, #31-Perkins, #26-Thompson, #28-Sieg and a handful of others pit. #88-Zilisch is the new race leader.
Lap 40: #54-Gray passes #48-Sanchez for fourth position. #45-Massey got #70-Honeyman loose off Turn 1 and spun to the inside to bring out the caution.
Lap 37: #7-Allgaier scoots away with the lead on the restart. #00-Creed pounds the outside wall on the restart and bounces off #25-Burton. Creed pits to clear a tire rub.
Lap 32: #20-Jones spins through Turn 2 while battling #1-Kvapil for 13th position. #18-Sawalich, #21-Hill and #10-Dye are collected. Dye clobbered the inside wall.
Lap 31: #7-Allgaier gets the lead on the restart, with #17-Elliott moving into second position. #54-Gray contests #25-Burton for third.
Lap 28: #25-Burton cycled to the lead after pitting at Lap 12, hoping to make it to the end of the second stage on fuel.
Lap 25: #20-Jones wins the opening stage, his first stage victory of the season. #48-Sanchez, #88-Zilisch, #39-Sieg, #16-Eckes, #8-Smith, #18-Sawalich, #00-Creed, #51-Clements and #21-Hill earn stage points.
Lap 23: Race leader #17-Elliott pits, handing the lead to #20-Jones.
Lap 22: #2-Love, #7-Allgaier, #54-Gray and #41-Mayer pit to flip the stage.
Lap 17: The top three cars have driven away with the field, with #88-Zilisch being close to five seconds behind in fourth.
Lap 13: #17-Elliott maintains the lead on the restart. #48-Sanchez and #20-Jones settle in second and third. #88-Zilisch made #39-Sieg three wide and battle for fourth position.
Lap 8: #19-Bonsignore blows an engine on the restart to bring out an immediate caution. #17-Elliott remains the leader.
Lap 4: #10-Dye spins entering Turn 3 battling #41-Mayer and went through the grass to bring out the caution. #17-Elliott leads #39-Sieg, #48-Sanchez, #20-Jones and #18-Sawalich.
Lap 3: #07-Emerling slapped the wall exiting Turn 1, causing significant damage to the right rear.
Lap 1: #17-Elliott leads the opening lap from the pole. #39-Sieg jumped from fifth starting spot to second in the running order.

Cars to the rear: #07-Patrick Emerling, #28-Kyle Sieg, #53-Logan Bearden (unapproved adjustments) and #25-Harrison Burton (engine change).

Pit-Stall Selections

Making a surprise Xfinity Series start, #17-Chase Elliott won the pole for the Explore the Pocono Mountains 250 Xfinity Series race at Pocono Raceway. It’s his first pole in more than a decade, dating back to 2014 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Elliott ran a speed of 166.024 mph to score the pole.
#20-Brandon Jones will start on the front row in second (165.532 mph). Rookie #48-Nick Sanchez will start third (165.399 mph), with #18-William Sawalich (165.350 mph) and #39-Ryan Sieg (165.192 mph) rounding out the top five.
#41-Sam Mayer, #54-Taylor Gray, #7-Justin Allgaier, #88-Connor Zilisch and #2-Jesse Love fill out the rest of the top 10.
See the complete Pocono Starting Lineup

Qualifying Fast Facts — Pocono Raceway:
Chase Elliott(i) won the Pole Award for the Explore the Pocono Mountains 250 with a lap of 54.209 seconds, 166.024 mph.
This is his third pole in 87 NASCAR Xfinity Series races.
This is his first pole and second top-10 start in 2025.
This is his first pole in three races at Pocono Raceway.
Brandon Jones (second) posted his seventh top-10 start of 2025 and his eighth in ten races at Pocono Raceway.
Nick Sanchez # (third) posted his first top-10 start at Pocono Raceway. It is his eighth in 16 races this season.
Nick Sanchez (third) was the fastest qualifying rookie.

Qualifying Order

Practice for the Explore the Pocono Mountains 250 Xfinity Series race at Pocono Raceway is complete. The top five, slowest, news and notes:
#7-Justin Allgaier 163.226 mph
#20-Brandon Jones 163.073 mph
#88-Connor Zilisch 163.061 mph
#18-William Sawalich 162.839 mph
#25-Harrison Burton 162.763 mph
Slowest: #28-Kyle Sieg 150.060 mph
Most laps run: #19-Justin Bonsignore, 24
Notes: In the opening minutes of the session, #28-Kyle Sieg had his hood fly open covering the windshield.
See full Pocono Practice Results.

Crew Rosters

NASCAR National Series News and Notes

• This weekend marks the 10th running of a NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Pocono Raceway, all since 2016.
• Austin Hill is the only past Xfinity Series Pocono winner in the field.
• Taylor Gray has never finished outside the top five at Pocono in Xfinity, Trucks or ARCA.
• Ford has won five of the nine Pocono races but are winless this season.
• JR Motorsports has won seven races this season with five different drivers, tied for most different drivers in a season all-time: Justin Allgaier 3, Connor Zilisch 1, Sammy Smith 1, Kyle Larson 1 & Daniel Suarez 1.
• Seven of the 15 races this season went to overtime.

Goodyear Fast Facts

There are 38 drivers/teams on the entry list for the Explore the Pocono Mountains 250 Xfinity Series race at Pocono Raceway. No cars will miss the race.
Notables: #07-Patrick Emerling, #14-Garrett Smithley, #17-Chase Elliott, #19-Justin Bonsignore, #35-Carson Ware, #45-Mason Massey, #53-Logan Bearden, #70-Leland Honeyman Jr., #74-Dawson Cram, #91-Josh Bilicki.
See the full Pocono entry list.

2025 practice and qualifying procedures

Pocono At-Track Schedule

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Race rules and information:

• Inspection Penalty Protocol
• Pit Road Penalties
• Pit Road Speeds
• Points Explanation
• Qualifying Procedures