After hard contact with the inside wall during a late wreck at Talladega Superspeedway on April 26, Connor Zilisch missed the following NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Texas Motor Speedway, citing lower back issues.
The good news? A healthy Zilisch will return to action in Saturday‘s BetMGM 300 (4:30 p.m. ET, The CW, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Moreover, Zilisch will also make his oval-track debut in the Cup Series in Sunday‘s Coca-Cola 600 (6 p.m. ET, Prime Video, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
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“Charlotte is my first race in my hometown, and a lot of my family will be there this weekend so that‘s exciting, for sure,” said Zilisch, who will drive the No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet on Saturday and the No. 87 Trackhouse Racing Chevy on Sunday. “It‘s going to be special for me to go there and race for the first time in the Xfinity car and to also double up and race the Cup car.
“I think the Xfinity race at Charlotte is going to be really good for us, considering how well we‘ve done on the intermediate tracks this year. We‘ve just got to continue to build on what we‘ve learned throughout the season and hopefully have a good run in the Jarrett Chevrolet at my home track.”
Zilisch will have plenty of competition. Full-time Cup driver William Byron is driving the No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, hoping to duplicate teammate Chase Elliott‘s victory in last year‘s edition of this race.
Series leader Justin Allgaier, Zilisch‘s teammate at JRM, is another strong entry. Allgaier dominated the race in 2023, winning from the pole and leading 83 of 200 laps. The reigning series champion already has two victories this season on 1.5-mile tracks, Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Allgaier, however, will have to buck a trend to win on Saturday. There has not been a repeat winner in the last 12 Xfinity Series races at Charlotte.
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