Connor Zilisch holds off Shane van Gisbergen in fierce battle to win Sonoma Xfinity race: In closing laps of the Pit Boss/FoodMaxx 250 at Sonoma Raceway, the pupil schooled the master. Taking shot after shot from JR Motorsports teammate Shane van Gisbergen over the final two laps, Connor Zilisch held off the more experienced driver to claim his third NASCAR Xfinity Series victory of the season and the fourth of his career.(Read more)(NASCAR)
(Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Leading a race-high 46 laps, #88-Connor Zilisch won the Pit Boss/FoodMaxx 250 Xfinity Series race at Sonoma Raceway. Zilisch held of his JR Motorsports teammate #9-Shane van Gisbergen in a fierce battle throughout the final stage as the two drivers traded paint multiple times. This is Zilisch’s fourth career victory, with three of those coming at road courses.
#18-William Sawalich earned a personal best third-place finish, a country mile behind the front two. #48-Nick Sanchez and #19-Riley Herbst rounded out the top five. Regular season championship leader #7-Justin Allgaier placed sixth, as #54-Taylor Gray, #1-Carson Kvapil, #8-Sammy Smith and #00-Sheldon Creed filled out the top 10.
#41-Sam Mayer won the opening stage, his second stage victory of the season. #20-Brandon Jones won Stage 2, his third stage victory of the season.
There were nine lead changes among found drivers and two cautions for seven yellow flag laps.
The average speed of the race was 81.176 mph.
See race details at: Race Results, Driver Points Standings, Owner Points Standings, Cumulative Report, Penalty Report.
Race Fast Facts – Sonoma Raceway:
Connor Zilisch # won the Pit Boss/FoodMaxx 250, his fourth victory in 22 Xfinity Series races.
This is his third victory and 10th top-10 finish in 2025.
This is his first victory and first top-10 finish in one race at Sonoma Raceway.
Shane Van Gisbergen(i) (second) posted his second top-10 finish in two races at Sonoma Raceway. It is his second top-10 finish in 2025.
William Sawalich # (third) posted his first top-10 finish in one races at Sonoma Raceway.
Connor Zilisch (first) was the highest finishing rookie.
Justin Allgaier leads the point standings by 59 points over Sam Mayer.
Xfinity Series Playoff Standings after Sonoma (Race 19 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 wins (18 playoff points)
4)#20-Brandon Jones 1 win (8 playoff points)
5)#8-Sammy Smith 1 win (7 playoff points)
6)#2-Jesse Love 1 win (6 playoff points)
7)#48-Nick Sanchez 1 win (5 playoff points)
8)#41-Sam Mayer 627, +163
9)#1-Carson Kvapil 554, +90
10)#00-Sheldon Creed 518, +54
11)#54-Taylor Gray 486, +22
12)#27-Jeb Burton 480, +16 Currently below elimination line
13)#25-Harrison Burton 464, -16
14)#39-Ryan Sieg 430, -50
15)#26-Dean Thompson 414, -66
16)#16-Christian Eckes 399, -81
See the Driver Points Standings and Owner Points Standings.
Race Updates: Lap 79: #88-Zilisch holds on for the victory. #9-Van Gisbergen, #18-Sawalich, #48-Sanchez, #19-Herbst, #7-Allgaier, #54-Gray, #1-Kvapil, #8-Smith and #00-Creed complete the top 10.
Lap 78: #9-van Gisbergen tries again to get by #88-Zilisch, pressuring for the lead in multiple corners.
Lap 77: #9-van Gisbergen lays the bumper to #88-Zilisch through Turn 4 and again through the esses with two laps remaining.
Lap 75: #21-Hill hopped the curb in the esses and makes contact with #17-Day and spins through the esses.
Lap 74: #88-Zilisch continues on as the leader, but his team continues to be worried about making it to the end of the race on fuel.
Lap 72: #9-van Gisbergen is making another charge, closing on the rear bumper of #88-Zilisch. #18-Sawalich remains in third spot, nearly eight seconds off the lead.
Lap 69: #88-Zilisch continues to lead by nearly a half-second over #9-van Gisbergen with 10 laps remaining.
Lap 67: The battle for the lead is tightening up between #88-Zilisch and #9-van Gisbergen, down to less than a half second with 12 laps remaining.
Lap 64: #20-Jones shoves #17-Day into #25-Burton entering Turn 11. Burton spin and drops to 23rd in the running order.
Lap 63: #88-Zilisch is managing the lead over #9-van Gisbergen by nearly one second. The front six drivers are trying to stretch their fuel tank by flipping the second stage. #7-Allgaier runs seventh — 11 seconds behind — and is told he’s good to go on fuel.
Lap 59: #21-Hill is fading through the field, dropping to eighth position after running inside the top five a handful of laps earlier. #51-Clements gets spun around in Turn 11.
Lap 55: #39-Sieg pits to fix an overheating issue with water billowing from his car.
Lap 52: #9-van Gisbergen gets to the inside of #18-Sawalich to take the runner-up position. #39-Sieg gets turned off the exit of Turn 7 after contact from #91-Bilicki. #16-Eckes has gotten into the rear of someone else, crunching the front end. Eckes has a flat right-front tire and Sieg is off the pace with damage.
Lap 51: #41-Mayer completes the pass on #21-Hill to take fourth position.
Lap 50: #88-Zilisch maintains the lead on the restart. #18-Sawalich moves to second, shuffling #9-van Gisbergen to third.
Lap 47: The majority of the field pits during the caution flag for fresh tires and a full tank of fuel. Thirteen drivers flipped the stage.
Lap 45: #20-Jones wins Stage 2, his third stage victory of the season. #7-Allgaier, #8-Smith, #00-Creed, #1-Kvapil, #31-Perkins, #88-Zilisch, #27-Burton, #70-Rodgers and #39-Sieg earn stage points.
Lap 44: #20-Jones passes #7-Allgaier entering Turn 4 for the race lead and is one lap away from earning a playoff point.
Lap 43: Race leader #88-Zilisch pits to flip the stage, as does #9-van Gisbergen, #18-Sawalich and #48-Sanchez. #7-Allgaier is the new race leader.
Lap 42: #21-Hill, #19-Herbst, #54-Gray, #25-Burton, #32-Green, #17-Day and #42-Alfredo pit to flip the stage. #53-Karam has gone to the garage with a transmission issue.
Lap 41: #11-Williams pits to flip the stage, but will be close on making to the end on fuel.
Lap 39: #88-Zilisch has increased his lead to one second over #9-van Gisbergen. Only #18-Sawalich remains within 12 seconds of the race lead.
Lap 37: #88-Zilisch takes the lead from #9-van Gisbergen, as the duo have stretched their advantage to six seconds over #18-Sawalich in third place. #07-Labbe pits for a broken track mar mount.
Lap 33: #41-Mayer dives to the bottom of #1-Kvapil and #25-Burton entering Turn 7 to pick up a pair of spots and moves to 12th.
Lap 32: #16-Eckes pits for another left-rear tire coming apart.
Lap 30: #71-Ellis got tagged in the esses and spun, dropping to 34th position. #48-Sanchez gets by #7-Allgaier to take fifth spot.
Lap 28: #9-van Gisbergen and #88-Zilisch trade paint battling for the lead. Van Gisbergen gives a thumbs up out the window while side by side exiting Turn 11 and takes the lead entering Turn 1.
Lap 27: #88-Zilisch and #9-van Gisbergen continue throwing haymakers at the front of the field. #18-Sawalich has cleared for third, with #21-Hill and #7-Allgaier in the top five.
Lap 25: #88-Zilisch clears #9-van Gisbergen on the restart under braking entering Turn 7. Zilisch throws a major block entering Turn 11 and keeps the race lead.
Lap 22: All the drivers that stayed out are now on pit road during caution, handing the lead back over to #88-Zilisch. #41-Mayer cycled to 13th after pitting during the caution.
Lap 20: #41-Mayer wins Stage 1, his second stage victory of the season. #20-Jones, #1-Kvapil, #8-Smith, #00-Creed, #42-Alfredo, #07-Labbe, #31-Perkins, #88-Zilisch and #39-Sieg earn stage points.
Lap 18: Both leaders #9-van Gisbergen and #88-Zilisch pit. #41-Mayer stays out, hoping to collect the stage victory.
Lap 17: Pit road is a busy place, led by #18-Sawalich. #21-Hill, #7-Allgaier, #17-Day, #25-Burton and #71-Ellis have all dipped to pit road.
Lap 16: #48-Sanchez and #91-Bilicki have hit pit road to flip the stage.
Lap 15: #9-van Gisbergen has stretched the lead to a half-second over #88-Zilisch. Some teams are beginning to flip the stage, including #19-Herbst.
Lap 11: #2-Love has dropped to sixth and feels like their is an issue with the car. He will make an unscheduled stop. The team found that the rear-end housing has broke in half.
Lap 10: #00-Creed has made a few passes in the last couple of laps to move up to seventh. #48-Sanchez has jumped to 16th after starting 23rd.
Lap 7: #16-Eckes makes an unscheduled pit stop for a possible issue with the left-rear tire.
Lap 5: #9-van Gisbergen re-takes the lead from #88-Zilisch while battling through the esses.
Lap 4: #9-van Gisbergen closes the gap back to race leader #88-Zilisch with #41-Mayer still in tow. #2-Love has slipped back nearly two seconds to fourth.
Lap 3: #88-Zilisch takes the lead from #9-van Gisbergen, allowing #41-Mayer to close in on second position.
Lap 1: #9-van Gisbergen gets a good launch on the start of the race to clear for the lead. #10-Dye and #32-Green went off track through Turns 1 and 2.
Cars to the rear: #45-Brad Perez, #70-Will Rodgers (unapproved adjustments); #54-Taylor Gray (engine change).
For the second consecutive week #9-Shane van Gisbergen wins the pole for the Xfinity Series race. His heater for the Pit Boss/FoodMaxx 250 Xfinity Series race at Sonoma Raceway was 95.191 mph, nearly a quarter of a second quicker than the field. It’s his fifth career pole, all coming on road courses (tied with Sam Hornish Jr. for the second-most poles all time on road courses).
JR Motorsports swept the front row in qualifying, with #88-Connor Zilisch turning the second best lap (94.844 mph). Four-time road course winner #41-Sam Mayer will start third (94.707 mph), with #2-Jesse Love (94.463 mph) and #18-William Sawalich (94.411 mph) rounding out the top five.
#8-Sammy Smith, #1-Carson Kvapil, #20-Brandon Jones, #00-Sheldon Creed and #7-Justin Allgaier complete the top 10.
Did Not Qualify: #35-Austin J. Hill
See the complete Sonoma Starting Lineup.
Qualifying Fast Facts — Sonoma Raceway:
Shane Van Gisbergen(i) won the Pole Award for the Pit Boss/FoodMaxx 250 with a lap of 75.259 seconds, 95.191 mph.
This is his fifth pole in 35 NASCAR Xfinity Series races.
This is his second pole and second top-10 start in 2025.
This is his second pole in two races at Sonoma Raceway.
Connor Zilisch # (second) posted his 14th top-10 start of 2025 and his first in one race at Sonoma Raceway.
Sam Mayer (third) posted his third top-10 start at Sonoma Raceway. It is his 14th in 19 races this season.
Connor Zilisch (second) was the fastest qualifying rookie.
Practice for the Pit Boss/FoodMaxx 250 Xfinity Series race at Sonoma Raceway is complete. The top five, slowest, news and notes:
#88-Connor Zilisch 95.176 mph
#2-Jesse Love 94.392 mph
#9-Shane van Gisbergen 94.097 mph
#00-Sheldon Creed 94.047 mph
#8-Sammy Smith 94.047 mph
Slowest: #44-Brennan Poole 90.966 mph
Most laps run: #16-Christian Eckes, 26
Notes: In the opening minutes of the session, both #19-Riley Herbst (Turn 2) and #35-Austin J. Hill went off course (Turn 7). #00-Sheldon Creed had an issue with his rear-view mirror, as it dangled from of the roof of the car. #17-Corey Day went wide and spun off the exit of Turn 4. #10-Daniel Dye wheel-hopped entering Turn 11 and spun on corner entry. Four-time road course winner #41-Sam Mayer went through the Turn 1 grass. With 13 minutes remaining, the caution flew for debris on the track.
See full Sonoma Practice Results.
There are 39 drivers/teams on the entry list for the Pit Boss/FoodMaxx 250 Xfinity Series race at Sonoma Raceway.
Notables: #07-Alex Labbe, #9-Shane van Gisbergen, #14-Connor Mosack, #17-Corey Day, #19-Riley Herbst, #32-Austin Green, #35-Austin Hill, #45-Brad Perez, #53-Sage Karam, #70-Will Rodgers, #91-Josh Bilicki.
See the full Sonoma entry list.