CONCORD, N.C. — Connor Zilisch returned to NASCAR Xfinity Series competition Saturday at Charlotte Motor Speedway looking like he didn’t miss a beat.
In his first race back after missing the event at Texas Motor Speedway with a lower-back injury sustained at Talladega Superspeedway, Zilisch bounced back to the No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet with a runner-up finish in Saturday’s BetMGM 300 at his home race track.
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The 18-year-old rookie from nearby Mooresville, North Carolina was a persistent presence inside the top five all day. Through myriad caution periods late in the contest — and therefore multiple restart attempts — Zilisch found himself fighting for the win with defending Xfinity champion Justin Allgaier and two-time defending Daytona 500 champion William Byron, a Cup Series regular. Ultimately, he finished behind Byron and just ahead of Nick Sanchez, Allgaier and Sammy Smith after an overtime attempt.
But the top priority was his health, which benefitted from a two-week break built into the Xfinity Series schedule allowing more time to recover from his injury.
“I felt really good,” Zilisch said. “Sometimes, it’s good to get a few weeks off and reset. Really proud of this group. We had a really good car today. Just came up a little bit short, but we’ll go get them next week at Nashville and see what we can do there.”
“You don’t realize how much you love it till you’re out of it for a few weeks. So, yeah, grateful that I was able to get back this quickly after a wreck that hard.”
His first race back behind the wheel produced his biggest points day of 2025. A runner-up finish in Stage 1 for nine points and a third-place run in Stage 2 added another eight, propelling him to a 52-point total that exceeded even his March win at Circuit of The Americas — all on a day that wasn’t perfect for the No. 88 Chevrolet.
“Just didn’t have enough there on that last restart,” Zilisch said. “We had a tire rub and I don’t think that was helping us. We had a motor that was that was stumbling all day long. So yeah, to come away second with really good stage points is a good day, but you always want more.”
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Part of his day also included a run-in with Dean Thompson, driver of the No. 26 Sam Hunt Racing Toyota. With 45 laps to go, the two were battling fiercely for second when Thompson slid up on Zilisch exiting Turn 2, sliding the No. 88 Chevy into the outside SAFER barrier. Both continued, but when the caution flag waved for a separate incident two laps later, Zilisch made his displeasure known by giving Thompson a couple of bumps under the yellow flag.
“Dean just [expletive] stuffed me in the fence off [Turn] 2,” Zilisch radioed to his crew.
“I don’t know if it’s even worth talking to him about it,” he told NASCAR.com after the race. “But yeah, he just kind of closed me off when I was coming outside of him out of 2 and then reversed into me on a pit stop, so, yeah, just kind of unfortunate circumstances. But nothing worth talking about.”
When asked about his perspective on their on-track incidents, Thompson told NASCAR.com: “If he wants to talk to me, he can.”
Zilisch isn’t done for the weekend yet, though. The teenager is pulling double duty at Charlotte, making his second NASCAR Cup Series start Sunday in the Coca-Cola 600 (6 p.m. ET, Prime Video, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) driving the No. 87 Red Bull Chevrolet for Trackhouse Racing. He will start 33rd in his first oval start in stock-car racing’s top level.
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