LONG POND, Pa. (June 21, 2025) – JR Motorsports driver Connor Zilisch may be a teenage rookie in the Xfinity Series, but it is always comforting to have a NASCAR Hall of Famer in your ear.

The rising 18-year-old star, with Dale Earnhardt Jr. serving as his interim crew chief, earned the first oval victory of his career in Saturday’s Explore the Pocono Mountains 250 at Pocono Raceway.

Zilisch overtook Jesse Love of Richard Childress Racing for the lead on Lap 96 of 100 en route to the victory by .437 of a second for his second win on the season. His first career NXS victory came at the Circuit of The Americas permanent road course in early March. Click HERE for the full results.

“Pretty cool to have him (Earnhardt Jr.) up there,” said Zilisch, who drives the No. 88 Registix Chevrolet. “It’s pretty funny, he was giving me a kick in the ass on some of the restarts. Advice from him was advice well-taken. It was cool to have him and to get him a one-for-one win as a crew chief is pretty awesome.

“I have been dying for this one for a while. This one’s pretty special. I’ve been so close on the ovals lately. I finished second in Charlotte, second at Nashville.”

An ecstatic Earnhardt Jr. not only was celebrating the win as a team owner, but also for securing his first as a crew chief. He was filling in for Zilisch’s regular crew chief Mardy Lindley, who was absent due to a one-race suspension for a lug nut penalty.

“I understand that I did not come in here and handle all of the layers Mardy usually handles,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “They put me in a position to do some light lifting. As the race went on, we got more comfortable and aggressive. It was fun. I felt like I had some involvement and some input with the energy. I have a ton of respect and admiration for all the crew chiefs and all the stress they put up with. I really have a new appreciation and level of respect and understanding of all the decisions they have to make.

“I didn’t walk in and say ‘Hey, can I do this?’ Mardy texted me and said, ‘Do you want to do this? I think you could.’”

It was a day of varying strategies and several pivotal restarts as a result of 10 cautions for 41 laps in the 100-lap race. The first key restart came with 13 laps remaining with race leader and 2020 Cup Series champion Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsports lining up next to defending Xfinity Series champion Justin Allgaier of JR Motorsports. On the restart, the two were side by side with Allgaier getting loose and both forced to fall back in the field and out of contention for the win. Elliott, who led a race-high 38 laps, would rally to finish fourth while Allgaier settled for 10th.

Meanwhile, Love, with Christian Eckes of Kaulig Racing and Zilisch in tow, darted underneath Elliott and Allgaier and into the lead. The 10th and final caution soon came out on Lap 91 for a spin by Kyle Sieg in Turn 2 to set the stage for a duel between best friends, Love and Zilisch.

Love, the 2024 Xfinity Series Rookie of the Year, took the initial lead on the restart before a side-by-side battle ensued and Zilisch was able to clear him and officially claim the lead on Lap 96. He led the final five laps and 34 overall to secure the win. Eckes, who considers Pocono Raceway his hometown track having grown up in Middletown, N.Y., took third for a season-best finish.

The weekend culminates with the sold-out Great American Getaway 400 presented by VISITPA.COM NASCAR Cup Series race on Sunday beginning at 2 p.m. ET.

NASCAR Cup Series star Ryan Blaney has been dealt a demotion blow at Pocono after Team Penske made changes to his No. 12 Ford.

Blaney is the defending Cup Series race winner at Pocono Raceway having beaten Denny Hamlin to the victory at the tricky triangle last year, but now faces a massive uphill task to repeat his success this time around.

READ MORE: NASCAR Race Today: Pocono start times, schedule and how to watch live on TV

During the rain delay for today’s race, Blaney confirmed that he will be sent to the rear of the field for the start of the Great American Getaway 400, with Team Penske having to replace his starter engine following qualifying on Saturday.

Blaney had qualified 20th during Saturday’s session, but he will now be one of six drivers sent to the rear ahead of the green flag when the action eventually gets underway this evening.

READ MORE: NASCAR Cup Series winner eliminated despite historic win

Six drivers sent to the rear at Pocono

The changes made to Blaney’s No. 12 come under ‘unapproved adjustments’, as per Dustin Albino, and the standard penalty for this is being sent to the rear of the field.

Ahead of this month’s Cup Series race at Michigan, for example, 23XI’s Tyler Reddick suffered the same fate.

Joining Blaney at the rear of the field for such an infraction will be Josh Berry, Bubba Wallace, William Byron and Cody Ware, some of whom did not set qualifying times due to their issues.

At the very back of the field will be Brennan Poole in the No. 44 after his NY Racing team failed pre-race inspection multiple times this weekend, hit with a quadruple penalty as a result.

After a delayed start time, NASCAR plans to kick off the race at Pocono at 4:30 pm ET.

READ MORE: NASCAR announce quadruple Cup Series penalty at Pocono

Related

The wait finally is over for Caio Collet.

Collet passed championship leader Dennis Hauger with less than five laps remaining and drove away to win the Grand Prix of Road America on Sunday, his first Indy NXT by Firestone victory this season. Collet’s No. 76 HMD Motorsports car crossed the finish line 1.7093s ahead of Hauger’s No. 28 Nammo car fielded by Andretti Global.

Former Rookie of the Year Collet entered this event with three podium finishes in the first six races this season, including two runner-up finishes. His victory was the first this season for HMD Motorsports, as Hauger and fellow Andretti Global rookie teammate Lochie Hughes have combined to win every race.

“At the beginning of the season, we couldn’t match them, to be honest,” Collet said. “It was really frustrating. Every time we went on track, it was hard to be second or third. But we kept working hard, and we need to keep working because they are a great team with great drivers. We need to keep pushing.”

Hughes rounded out the podium finishers in the No. 26 McGinley Clinic/USF Pro Championship car after passing Josh Pierson in the No. 14 HMD Motorsports machine on the last of 20 laps around the 14-turn, 4.014-mile circuit. Pierson ended up tying his career-best finish of fourth.

Myles Rowe placed fifth in the No. 99 Abel/Force Indy car in the caution-free race.

Hauger led from the pole on an unseasonably hot day with air temperatures in the high 80s. Collet stayed close from the second starting position, keeping the gap around 0.5-0.6s as the duo marched away from the rest of the 19-car field.

Collet’s patience expired on lap 16. He drove alongside Hauger on the long front straightway and made an outside pass in Turn 1 stick. Collet then eased away from Hauger over the last four laps.

“I kept up the pace, kept up the pressure,” Collet said. “Yesterday, I think I lost the pole to myself. Dennis did a phenomenal lap, but I think I left a bit in the tank and was very frustrated. Today I really wanted to give the win to the team.”

Said Hauger: “I think we’ve been on the back foot compared to Collet all weekend. We did everything right today, but they were just a bit stronger. I tried to do what I could, but it just wasn’t meant to be. Still a decent weekend.”

Hauger’s lead over second-place Hughes grew from 19 to 28 points with his fifth podium finish of the season. Collet is third, 70 points behind Hauger.

The next race is the Indy NXT by Firestone Grand Prix at Mid-Ohio on Sunday, July 6 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. It’s good track for Collet, who earned his sole previous Indy NXT victory there in July 2024. 

RESULTS

Capitalizing on a late-race restart, Connor Zilisch earned his second NASCAR Xfinity Series victory of 2025 and the third of his career Saturday at Pocono Raceway.

Zilisch led 34 of the 100-lap Explore the Pocono Mountains 250 to capture his first non-road course win in the series.

“I know it hasn’t felt like that long, but man, I’ve been so close on the ovals,” Zilisch said. “I’ve been chasing the oval win for a while now.”

The 18-year-old Zilisch accomplished the feat without his usual crew chief Mardy Lindley, who was serving a one-race suspension following a penalty stemming from the race at Nashville.

Enter Dale Earnhardt Jr., Zilisch’s team owner at JR Motorsports, who filled in for Lindley atop the pitbox.

Dale Jr. made his crew chief debut in the series, coaching Zilisch throughout the 250-mile race and helping during pit stops.

“The advice from him is advice well taken,” Zilisch said. “It was really to have him, and to get him a one-for-one win as a crew chief, is pretty awesome as well. Mardy did everything right to set this up, and I wish he could have been with us on the box, but I know he’s with us in spirit.”

Dale Jr. gave credit to Lindley, the team and his former crew chief Steve Letarte for help.

“We had a lot of things go our way, lot of good luck, great strategy,” Dale Jr. said. “(Connor Zilisch) is going to be a big deal in the sport for a long time.”

Zilisch extends his streak of consecutive Top-5 finishes to four.

In second was Jesse Love, who led eight laps and was who Zilisch overtook with five laps to go.

Christian Eckes posted his second straight Top-5 finish in third.

Polesitter Chase Elliott, who led the most laps (38), finished fourth.

Ryan Sieg rounded out the Top-5.

Dominic Aragon is currently the editor-in-chief for The Racing Experts.

From Grants, New Mexico, USA, Aragon started watching NASCAR in 2004 and has been covering the sport since 2009. Aragon is a 2012 graduate of Grants High School and a May 2016 graduate of the University of New Mexico with a B.A. in Mass Communications & Journalism. Aragon has worked in local and national media, as a musician, and an educator. He is co-author of the 2024 book “All of It: Daytona 500 Champion Tells the Rest of the Story” with racer Geoff Bodine.

Aragon, his wife Feliz, and son Christopher currently reside in Grants, New Mexico, USA.

You can reach Dominic at daragon@theracingexperts.net.

By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer

Chase Elliott and Justin Allgaier were 1-2 when contact was made in Turn 1 on a late-race restart Saturday at Pocono Raceway.

But when sophomore driver Jesse Love attempted an inside move into Turn 1, three wide proved to be too tight for driver No. 7 of Allgaier, who drifted wide and into the No. 17 of Elliott.

The two slid high, forfeiting numerous positions and opening the door for Love and eventual race winner Connor Zilisch to squeeze past.

Elliott, who fell to ninth, managed to re-cope his losses to finish fourth.

“[Allgaier] just ran in there too hard and caught a bad section of air, something weird,” Elliott said. “He turned sideways and at that point, I just saw him coming toward my door really fast. What do I do? Give him the space or crowd him and crash?

“It was up to me if we were gonna have two destroyed racecars. At that point, we were screwed. Not worth tearing up the shit for no reason.”

The Cup Series champion was running his final race of 2025 with Hendrick Motorsports, leading a race-high 38 laps. Additionally, he earned his first Xfinity pole since his rookie year in 2014.

But in a game of inches, the critical restart was what ended his chances at winning.

“I have a lot of respect for Justin,” he continued. “We’ve always raced each other with a lot of respect, and have equally as much away from the track, too. I don’t have any ill will against him.

“I hate that he made a mistake with me [laughs] considering it’s my last one for the year.”

Elliott relishes his chances of running the second-tier series before transitioning to his No. 9 Cup car on Sunday.

“The ole’ Hendrick Cars [No.] 17 is pretty fast right now. I was wanting to cash in on that while that’s the case.

“Look, any time you have cars that are that fast it’s fun. Somedays it’s just not totally going to go your way and that was unfortunately us today.”

On Sunday, NASCAR will be racing at Pocono for The Great American Getaway 400! Pocono is a big 2.5-mile flat track where horse power is king but pit strategy rules the day. These races are often run backwards, so teams make as few pit stops as possible to position themselves to be up front at the end (AKA, track position race).

On Saturday, practice was held for Pocono. Teams had 25 minutes, and keep in mind teams have different agenda’s Make sure you check out our Pocono Practice Notes, Pocono 5,10,15 and 20 Lap Average Speed Cheat Sheet, Pocono Group Speed Rankings and Pocono Practice Speeds and 10-Lap Averages.

Here’s the Pocono Qualifying Results/ Starting Lineup. 

1) Denny Hamlin
Start 1st / Projected Finish Range 1-6 / Dominator Potential – High
Pocono Outlook – Denny Hamlin is the premiere performer at Pocono and on Sunday in The Great American Getaway 400, look for Hamlin to be a top five contender who’ll be a factor to win. Hamlin’s the winningest Pocono driver in NASCAR history (7-wins), and if you give him 2022 back where he won but got DQ’ed, then he has 8-wins, is 2 for 3 at winning in the Next Gen and would have a 1.3 Next Gen Average Finish. Also in the Next Gen, Hamlin has the best Total Speed Ranking, the best Driver Rating and the best Average Running Position. Last year, Hamlin finished 2nd in Stage #1, won Stage #2, had a race best 5.0 average running position, earned the 2nd best Driver Rating, led 31 laps and then finished 2nd overall. In terms of speed stats, Hamlin had the best Total Speed Ranking and ranked 3rd for Speed Late In A Run. In 2023, Hamlin had a hot rod and raced his way to victory lane. In the race, Hamlin finished 3rd in Stage #1, finished 4th in Stage #2, had the 3rd best average running position (8.3), had the 3rd best Total Speed Ranking and of course finished 1st. In 2022, Hamlin crossed the finish line 1st but NASCAR DQ’ed him in post-race inspection, leading to his 35th. In the race, Hamlin had a 6.1 average running position, led 21 laps and had the 3rd best Total Speed Ranking. In practice, Hamlin had good speed over the course of a run.
DraftKings $11,000/ FanDuel $14,000

Pocono Further Recommended Reading = Pocono Projected Finish Ranges, DraftKings Pocono Scoring Projections, FanDuel Pocono Scoring Projections, Pocono Quick Rankings

2) Ryan Blaney
Start 20th / Projected Finish Range 1-6 / Dominator Potential – Medium
Pocono Outlook – 2-time and Defending Pocono winner, Ryan Blaney will be tough to beat in The Great American Getaway 400. Blaney always shows up with elite speed here and over the last five Pocono races, you could argue he’s been top 6 good, despite what you see in the results column. Last year, Blaney smoked the field in closing time, having the fastest car on the track over the last quarter of the race and raced his way to victory lane. In addition to finishing 1st, Blaney led 44 laps, earned the best Driver Rating and had the 2nd best Average Running Position. In terms of speed stats, Blaney had the fastest car late in a run and ranked 2nd in terms of Total Speed Rankings. In 2023, Blaney was a top five contender but finished an asterisk mark 30th. In the race, Blaney started 14th, finished 8th in Stage #2, led 2 laps, was in 2nd on lap 101 but then Blaney had drive train issues and rapidly dropped back which doomed his afternoon. In segment #2 prior to his issue, Blaney had the 2nd fastest car on the track. In 2022, Blaney was top five good once again but finished 33rd. In the race, Blaney finished 4th in Stage #1, finished 2nd in Stage #2, led 7 laps but then in the last Stage, Blaney had multiple problems. On lap 107 while running in 5th, Blaney had a flat tire. Then later on lap 136 while he was way back in 30th, Blaney crashed. In Group 2, Blaney had the 2nd best 10-lap average and the best 15-lap average.
DraftKings $10,700/ FanDuel $13,500

3) Tyler Reddick
Start 8th / Projected Finish Range 1-6 / Dominator Potential – Medium
Pocono Outlook – In the Next Gen at Pocono, Tyler Reddick has been elite and over the last three races, Reddick has the best average finish (3.3), the 3rd best Next Gen Speed Ranking and the 3rd best Driver Rating. Reddick’s also been one of the safest options in the Next Gen, having a result in the top 6 every race and being one of just two drivers who are 3 for 3 at finishing in the top ten. Last year, Reddick had a strong showing. In the race, Reddick finished 3rd in Stage #1, 10th in Stage #2, had the 9th best Total Speed Ranking and then finished 6th overall. In 2023, the #45 was stout. In the race, Reddick started 7th, finished 4th in Stage #1, finished 6th in Stage #2, earned the 5th best Driver Rating and then finished 2nd when the checkered flag waved. In terms of speed analytics, Reddick ranked 2nd for Speed Late In A Run and ranked 4th for Total Speed Rankings. In 2022, Reddick once again finished runner-up but take note, it did take Hamlin and Busch DQ’s for that to happen.
DraftKings $9,900/ FanDuel $11,500

Related