Connor Zilisch ties the NASCAR Xfinity Series Record with his fourth straight win at WWT Raceway on Saturday night in the Nu Way 200.
MADISON, Ill.—Connor Zilisch’s dream season continued on a track he’d never raced before.
Zilisch’s Fourth Straight Win
Holding off the rest of the NASCAR Xfinity Series field over a succession of restarts late in Saturday night’s Nu Way 200 Sauced by Blues Hog at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, Zilisch achieved a litany of milestones with his ninth victory as a rookie and tenth career.
First and perhaps most important, the 19-year-old phenom secured the regular-season championship and accompanying bonus of 15 playoff points, beating reiging series champion Justin Allgaier for that distinction by 53 points.
With four straight victories, Zilisch tied the series record for consecutive wins shared by Sam Ard (1983) and Noah Gragson (2022). His win was the 16th this year for JR Motorsports, a single-season record for the team.
Driving the No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, Zilisch led 121 of 160 laps in posting his seventh victory in the last eight races and his first-ever from the pole in an oval race.
Zilisch’s triumph also made a Playoff driver of Harrison Burton, who advanced to the postseason on points in the first Xfinity Series race at Gateway since 2010.
“Four in a row, seven of the last eight, that’s awesome,” said Zilisch, who enters next week’s Playoff opener at Bristol Motor Speedway with 59 Playoff points. “We’re going to celebrate this—and the regular-season championship.
“Man, this is going to be tough to keep up, honestly. It’s rare that you can go on a run like this. Every week I show up thinking, ‘Man, this is going to be the weekend that we just run eighth,’ and just aren’t great, but every weekend we show up and we’re a winning race car, and my pit crew executes, my team executes, everybody does their job, and we end up doing burnouts on the frontstretch.”
“Yeah, it’s awesome to be able to do this and win this many races.”
A Unique Twist for the Books
There is one unique twist to Zilisch’s string of four victories. He broke his collarbone while celebrating in Victory Lane at Watkins Glen, started the subsequent race at Daytona on Aug.22 but gave way to relief driver Parker Kligerman, who took the checkered flag after completing 91 of the 104 laps.
Having started the race, Zilisch gets credit for the win.
The Nu Way 200 Results
William Sawalich passed fellow Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota driver Aric Almirola for the second spot on Saturday after a restart on lap 149 and finished 1.506 seconds behind Zilisch. Christian Eckes ran third, Brandon Jones fourth and Jesse Love fifth, as Almirola faded to sixth.
Sawalich needed a win to advance to the Playoffs at Burton’s expense. Instead, he was runner-up for the second straight weekend.
“The 88 (Zilisch), he was on rails tonight,” Sawalich said. “I think he was definitely the best car all night… We didn’t make the Playoffs, but we certainly gave them a run for their money.”
Jeb Burton’s long-shot hopes of securing a Playoff spot ended on lap 100. With his right-front tire suddenly losing air, Burton rocketed into the outside wall near the exit from the second turn.
With a fire raging in the right-front wheel well of his No. 27 Chevrolet, Burton drove the car to pit road and climbed out, his race over.
“That was a hard hit,” Burton acknowledged. “It sucks, but we’re going to Bristol next week.”
That accident, combined with Zilisch’s win, sealed a Playoff position for Burton’s cousin, Harrison Burton, on points. Coincidentally, Harrison spun in the second turn on lap 129 after contact from Brennan Poole’s Chevrolet.
Harrison finished 22nd and claimed the final Playoff berth by 45 points over his cousin.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series Point Standings (Reseeded)
Allgaier’s bid for the regular-season championship came to an abrupt end on the subsequent lap 135 restart. His No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet was badly damaged in an 11-car melee in the first turn. The incident effectively deprived Allgaier’s chance to contest Zilisch for the top sport in the standings.
Sam Mayer was eliminated in the same wreck and ended the regular season third in the standings.
Up Next
The NASCAR Xfinity Series playoffs starts Friday, September 13th at Bristol Motor Speedway. The Food City 300 begins at 7:30 pm ET on CW, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. The 2024 winner is Cole Custer, who is now racing in the NASCAR Cup Series.