Connor Zilisch Scores Rain-Shortened Dover Victory

Connor Zilisch celebrating in Victory Lane after scoring his fourth victory of the season at Dover Motor Speedway. (Photo Credit: Josh Jones | The Podium Finish)

DOVER, Del. — In a rain-shortened event at Dover Motor Speedway, Connor Zilisch found himself out front at the right time to score the BetRivers 200 victory.

Although the race did not go the scheduled distance, Zilisch was a worthy winner of the event, leading 77 of the 134 run laps, including the Stage 2 victory. The win is also Zilisch’s fourth of the season thus far, which is the most of any NASCAR Xfinity Series full-time driver.

After missing the race at Texas Motor Speedway due to suffering a back injury from a last-lap crash at Talladega Superspeedway, Zilisch has not finished outside the top five in all eight races since, three of which were wins. His average finish during that span was 2.25.

“We’ve been showing it lately,” said Zilisch. “It’s been awesome, and I feel like even when we miss a little bit, we’re still a top five car, and being able to go to the racetrack and know that in the back of your head has definitely been comforting and confidence-inspiring every weekend.”

Connor Zilisch during the practice/qualifying session for the BetRivers 200 at Dover Motor Speedway. (Photo Credit: Josh Jones | The Podium Finish)

Even though he had one of the best cars, Zilisch still gave props to second-place finisher, Aric Almirola, for racing him tough for the win, and wishing the race could have finished under green. However, he was proud of his No. 88 team for being in the right position to claim the win when the weather hit.

“First of all, I hate that we couldn’t finish the race the right way,” said Zilisch. “Aric (Almirola) was really fast and was going to give me a run for my money. We capitalized on all fronts, had good pit stops in both stages and put ourselves in a position to be in the right spot when the rain fell. Very thankful.”

Almirola finished second after the race was called early. He noted having fun battles during the race with both Zilisch and Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Brandon Jones but was disappointed at the same time to have the race end early.

“It was fun to battle with those guys,” Almirola said. “I just wish I could’ve gotten to Connor (Zilisch) there at the end. We were closing on him pretty quickly before the rain came. I was really disappointed to see the caution come out for rain.”

Connor Zilisch on Saturday morning during the BetRivers 200 practice session at Dover Motor Speedway. (Photo Credit: Josh Jones | The Podium Finish)

Overall, Almirola felt like his No. 19 car was capable of competing for the win but also felt that track position was the name of the game, which he did not have when the race ended.

“I felt really good about the car we brought,” said Almirola. “I felt like we could compete. Just, track position is really tough here. It’s probably one of the most track-position dependent tracks that we run at.”

Also finishing inside the top five were Jones, Justin Allgaier and Jesse Love. Rounding out the top 10 were Ryan Sieg, Taylor Gray, Sheldon Creed, William Sawalich and Christian Eckes.

With six races remaining in the regular season, Allgaier now only holds a 56-point lead over the surging Zilisch for the regular season title. For the final provisional playoff spot, Jeb Burton has a narrow seven-point lead over Harrison Burton.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series returns next weekend on Saturday, July 26, at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Pennzoil 250 at 4:30 p.m. EST on The CW, IMS Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Stage 1 Top 10 Results

1. Taylor Gray
2. Aric Almirola
3. Brandon Jones
4. Connor Zilisch
5. Ross Chastain
6. Nick Sanchez
7. Justin Allgaier
8. William Sawalich
9. Jesse Love
10. Sheldon Creed

Stage 2 Top 10 Results

1. Connor Zilisch
2. Aric Almirola
3. Brandon Jones
4. Justin Allgaier
5. Ryan Sieg
6. Ross Chastain
7. Jesse Love
8. Sheldon Creed
9. William Sawalich
10. Austin Hill

BetRivers 200 at Dover Motor Speedway Finishing Results