In a day of varying strategies and dramatic restarts among the front runners, JR Motorsports rookie Connor Zilisch prevailed in a late race sprint to the checkered flag in Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series’ Explore the Pocono Mountains 250 at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway – the first oval win of this young talent’s career.
Late race restarts determined the day and ultimately it came down to a duel between Zilisch and his best friend, last year’s Rookie of the Year, Jesse Love. Zilisch pulled his No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet alongside Love’s car as they crossed the start/finish line with four laps to go and then he took the lead for good with three laps remaining – 0.437s ahead of the field.
It was that kind of resolute day for the 18-year-old Zilisch, who had some key help in his headset from a first-time crew chief. His team owner, NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr., filled in for the team’s full-time leader Mardy Lindley, who was serving a one-race suspension.
The two-time Daytona 500 winner Earnhardt, an icon in the sport, not only called the race from atop Zilisch’s pit box, but climbed down and helped out on pit stops too. He was absolutely ecstatic after the race in his debut calling the shots. He’s the fifth crew chief this season to earn his first Xfinity Series victory.
“Just a great job putting us in position to succeed, we had a lot of things go our way, a lot of good luck, good race strategy, had a little help from [his former NASCAR Cup Series crew chief Steve] Letarte,” a grinning Earnhardt said, applauding Lindley’s preparation for the weekend.
“Hat’s off to everybody on this team,” he continued. “It’s been amazing all weekend long. Great race car driver. Connor Zilisch is going to be a big deal in this sport for a long time. A lot of fun for me today.”
Zilisch was similarly exuberant, having to really work hard for this win, his second of the season. Ten caution flags on the afternoon created varying strategies and a real test of restart skills.
