Connor Zilisch Shines en Route to Watkins Glen Repeat

Connor Zilisch burning it down after winning the Mission 200 at The Glen for his sixth victory of the season. (Photo: Holden Barnes | The Podium Finish)

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — In dominating fashion, the hottest driver in the NASCAR XFINITY Series, Connor Zilisch, kept his streak going, winning the Mission 200 at The Glen at Watkins Glen International.

After a 45-minute red flag stoppage following a 16-car incident on Lap 74, it set up a final restart. Zilisch lined up in the inside lane with Sammy Smith lined up next to him in the outside lane. Going into Turn 1, Smith was clear of Zilisch, but he was able to get back to the inside and retake the lead and go on to claim the victory.

Zilisch led 60 of the 82 laps en route to his series-leading sixth win of the season thus far and seventh overall for the No. 88 team. With the win, he was also able to take over the regular-season points lead from JR Motorsports teammate Justin Allgaier with just three races remaining before the postseason.

Unfortunately, following the race, Zilisch slipped and fell from his car while celebrating in Victory Lane, breaking his collarbone from the fall. It is unclear how many races Zilisch will miss, but Trackhouse Racing withdrew the No. 87 NASCAR Cup Series car from the Go Bowling at The Glen, which he was scheduled to drive.

Connor Zilisch won the Mission 200 at The Glen at Watkins Glen International for win No. 6 of the season. (Photo: Holden Barnes | The Podium Finish)

One of the most anticipated storylines headed into the race was the battle between Zilisch and Shane van Gisbergen for the third time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series this season. For much of the race, Zilisch was way ahead of van Gisbergen until a fortunate caution came out while SVG was making his final pit stop, giving him the lead for the following restart.

While battling for the lead, Zilisch and van Gisbergen made contact, sending SVG’s No. 9 car spinning into the wall in Turn 7, ending his day. When asked about the incident, van Gisbergen didn’t place any blame, saying it would be something that would be discussed at a later time.

“I haven’t seen it yet,” said van Gisbergen. “Will watch it later and work it out. Pretty gutted for the JR Motorsports guys. The car wasn’t great, but we still managed to get ourselves in a good position.”

The other big talking point from the race was the 16-car incident on Lap 74, which escalated from Austin Hill tagging Michael McDowell, which triggered the pileup. Hill, who was in his first race back from suspension after right-hooking Aric Almirola at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, claimed it wasn’t intentional and was just trying to make a bold move to get past the No. 11.

“The (No.) 11 (McDowell) had been struggling a little bit in front of me for a few laps,” Hill said. “I thought if I got a big enough run, I might get to his left side and get that position.”

Connor Zilisch on the front straightaway at Watkins Glen International after winning the Mission 200 at The Glen. (Photo: Holden Barnes | The Podium Finish)

McDowell, who was making a one-off start for Kaulig Racing, was upset after the incident, after being in a position to potentially score a victory.

“That was unfortunate and I just hate it for everybody at Kaulig Racing,” McDowell said. “We had a couple shots at it and was hoping to get to Victory Lane, but that was unfortunate. But that’s racing and thankful to everybody at Kaulig. Was trying to do a good job for them there.”

Sam Mayer finished in second, Smith scored a third-place finish, Hill finished in fourth place and Carson Kvapil rounded out the top five. Finishing inside the top 10 were Allgaier, Austin Green, Christian Eckes, Brandon Jones and Harrison Burton.

With the top 10, Burton grew his lead over the playoff cutline to 30 points up on Jeb Burton and 38 points ahead of Ryan Sieg.

Next weekend, the NASCAR XFINITY Series will be off and returns on Friday, Aug.2 22, for the Wawa 250 at Daytona International Speedway at 7:30 p.m. EST on The CW, MRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Stage 1 Top 10 Results

1. Justin Allgaier
2. Taylor Gray
3. Sheldon Creed
4. Nick Sanchez
5. Jesse Love
6. Harrison Burton
7. Parker Retzlaff
8. Dean Thompson
9. Ryan Sieg
10. Matt DiBenedetto

Stage 2 Top 10 Results

1. Connor Zilisch
2. Shane van Gisbergen
3. Sam Mayer
4. Austin Hill
5. Carson Kvapil
6. Michael McDowell
7. Sheldon Creed
8. Justin Allgaier
9. Sammy Smith
10. Austin Green

Mission 200 at The Glen at Watkins Glen International Finishing Results