19-yo Connor Zilisch bags ninth NASCAR victory, claims the regular season championship

JR Motorsports driver Connor Zilisch recently competed in the Nu Way 200 Sauced by Blues Hog held at World Wide Technology Raceway on Saturday, September 2025. Zilisch secured his fourth back-to-back win and lifted the regular-season champion title after wrapping up the 160-lap race.

The #88 Chevy driver secured the eighth pole position of this season at Gateway. Zilisch had a best lap time of 32.94 seconds and a top speed of 136.63 mph. He then led stage one and secured an additional ten points.

However, during stage two, the 19-year-old fell two spots and wrapped up the stage in P3 while his teammate Justin Allgaier claimed the stage win. Soon after, in the final stage, Connor Zilisch took the lead back and secured his ninth victory of the season.

Zilisch held William Sawalich in the race by leading 121 laps of the 160-lap race. Reflecting on the same, NASCAR analyst Bob Pockrass revealed (via X):

"Zilisch wins Xfinity race at Gateway. Creed, Gray and HBurton get final three playoff spots. Zilisch is regular-season champion."

Bob Pockrass

@bobpockrass

Zilisch wins Xfinity race at Gateway. Creed, Gray and HBurton get final three playoff spots. Zilisch is regular-season champion.

Reflecting on his ninth win, Zilisch stated:

"It's awesome to come here to St. Louis and bring the Xfinity Series here ... This is gonna be tough to keep up. It's rare you can go on a run like this. Every weekend, we show up and we're a winning car. My team executes, I execute and we do burnouts."

Connor Zilisch crossed the finish line 1.506 seconds ahead of his Toyota rival Sawalich and secured 59 points. The JR Motorsports driver has secured his spot in the playoffs with his teammates Justin Allgaier, Sammy Smith, and Carson Kvapil.

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NASCAR prodigy Connor Zilisch opened up about Parker Kligerman replacing him for the Daytona race

Earlier in August 2025, ahead of the Wawa 250 powered by Coca-Cola, Xfinity Series driver Connor Zilisch was featured in an interview with Bob Pockrass. During the interaction, the JR Motorsports driver shared his views on Parker Kligerman replacing him for the 100-lap Daytona race.

After getting injured twice in his rookie season, Zilisch had no plans on getting injured once again at Daytona. He got injured at the Ag-Pro 300 for the first time after his friend Jesse Love pulled a last-minute maneuver.

The second time, the NASCAR prodigy got injured while celebrating his win at Watkins Glen International, resulting in a collarbone injury. Reflecting on the same, Connor Zilisch told NASCAR analyst Bob Pockrass:

"Parker's obviously going to be here, and we fitted him in the car, and he's gonna be ready to go. And, you know, odds are that, you know, just with the risk of, you know, having a record at Daytona, you know, my record. Talladega, I had black and blue bruises down both of my, you know, shoulders from the belts and just the impact on that. So, you know, I don't know if I'm gonna run the entire race or get out at, you know, a caution." [00:50 onwards].

Parker Kligerman replaced Connor Zilisch and parked his #88 in the victory lane, adding one more win to his stats. The JR Motorsports driver is set to compete in the first playoff race, the Food City 300, scheduled for Friday, September 12, 2025, at Bristol Motor Speedway.