The NASCAR Xfinity Series was at Pocono Raceway on Saturday for the running of the Explore the Pocono Mountains 250, which saw rookie Connor Zilisch prevail with co-owner and NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. atop the pit box in his crew chief debut. Earnhardt Jr. was subbing for Zilisch's full-time crew chief, Mardy Lindley, who was suspended for two unsecured lug nuts following the Nashville race on May 31.
How the Explore the Pocono Mountains 250 unfolded at Pocono Raceway
Cup Series regular Chase Elliott led the field to green for the 100-lap, 250-mile race at the Tricky Triangle. The racing was halted shortly afterward on Lap 3 when Daniel Dye lost control battling Sam Mayer for 15th and spun in Turn 3. A blown engine from Justin Bonsignore on the ensuing restart brought out the second caution. Brandon Jones came away with his first stage win since 2022 after Elliott pitted from the lead coming to two laps to go in the stage.
Jones quickly found trouble on Lap 33 when he spun under Carson Kvapil from 13th in Turn 2, collecting Austin Hill, William Sawalich and Dye. After another caution for Leland Honeyman's spin on Lap 41, Zilisch drove away to the Stage 2 win.
Earnhardt Jr. decided to leave Zilisch on track during the Stage 2 caution, ultimately bringing him down pit road under green coming to 32 laps to go. A caution for Garrett Smithley with 30 laps remaining forced Elliott and the rest of the frontrunners to pit road under caution and put Zilisch back in charge.
A couple more cautions in quick succession bunched the field back up for the race-altering restart with 13 to go. Justin Allgaier got loose entering Turn 1 and made slight contact with Elliott, leader of a race-high 38 laps, forcing both to go up the track and fall back.
Connor Zilisch picks up first oval win at Pocono: Full finishing order and points results
After Kyle Sieg brought out an Xfinity Series-record 10th caution at Pocono with 11 to go, it came down to a battle between Jesse Love and Zilisch for the win. Zilisch, who led 34 laps, ultimately had too much pace, getting around Love with four laps remaining and winning by 0.437 seconds. It is his third career win and second of the season, but his first on an oval layout. His Pocono victory also comes with Earnhardt Jr. atop the box, adding another accolade to his co-owner's Hall of Fame career.
Explore the Pocono Mountains 250 finishing position | Driver | Points |
|---|---|---|
Winner | Connor Zilisch | 58 |
2nd | Jesse Love | 42 |
3rd | Christian Eckes | 46 |
4th | Chase Elliott | 0 |
5th | Ryan Sieg | 44 |
6th | Carson Kvapil | 33 |
7th | Sam Mayer | 30 |
8th | Sammy Smith | 37 |
9th | Taylor Gray | 37 |
10th | Justin Allgaier | 31 |
11th | Jeb Burton | 27 |
12th | Jeremy Clements | 27 |
13th | Anthony Alfredo | 24 |
14th | Harrison Burton | 23 |
15th | Josh Williams | 22 |
16th | Brennan Poole | 21 |
17th | Dean Thompson | 20 |
18th | Brandon Jones | 29 |
19th | Matt DiBenedetto | 18 |
20th | Mason Massey | 17 |
21st | William Sawalich | 20 |
22nd | Parker Retzlaff | 15 |
23rd | Josh Bilicki | 14 |
24th | Leland Honeyman | 13 |
25th | Kyle Sieg | 12 |
26th | Garrett Smithley | 11 |
27th | Logan Bearden | 10 |
28th | Nick Sanchez | 26 |
29th | Blaine Perkins | 8 |
30th | Patrick Emerling | 0 |
31st | Daniel Dye | 6 |
32nd | Ryan Ellis | 5 |
33rd | Dawson Cram | 4 |
34th | Carson Ware | 3 |
35th | Austin Hill | 3 |
36th | Sheldon Creed | 4 |
37th | Kris Wright | 1 |
38th | Justin Bonsignore | 1 |
Despite settling for a 10th-place finish with one of the best cars in the field at Pocono, Allgaier extended his points lead (+82) over Hill, who finished 35th after getting caught up in the Lap 33 wreck. Those two, along with Zilisch, Sammy Smith, Love and Jones, are the six full-time drivers in the series to visit Victory Lane this season, putting them atop the playoff leaderboard. Taylor Gray is currently 11 points to the good over Harrison Burton for the 12th and final playoff spot with 10 regular-season races remaining.
The Xfinity Series shifts its focus to EchoPark Speedway (formerly Atlanta Motor Speedway) for the running of the Focused Health 250 on Friday, June 27 (7:30 p.m. ET, The CW, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Hill is the defending race winner and has won the last three races at his hometown track.