BRISTOL, Tenn. — For the first time in 41 days, Connor Zilisch ran a NASCAR Xfinity Series race and didn’t win.
While Aric Almirola sailed to Victory Lane in Friday night’s Food City 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway, Zilisch was forced to settle for fifth place in the opening race of the Xfinity Series Playoffs, snapping his four-race winning streak. Zilisch had won seven of the eight races prior to Friday’s event at Bristol.
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After leading a race-best 98 laps, Zilisch led a handful of competitors to pit road with just 35 laps remaining after a caution flag waved for Carson Ware’s spin at Lap 263. Eight cars stayed on track to capitalize on track position with older tires, but Zilisch couldn’t overcome the traffic and ultimately worked his way back to fifth by the time the checkered flag waved.
“It’s part of it,” Zilisch said. “We had a winning car today, and we were in the right position. But those late-race calls to pit or not when you’re the leader are just really tough. … Those decisions are tough. And we do our best to make the right calls, but you know, it’s not easy to always make the right calls. We’ll learn from it and move on to Kansas.”
Zilisch may not have celebrated a win this time, but his 52 points earned tied Almirola’s total for the most points accumulated Friday night, in part thanks to a Stage 2 victory and a runner-up effort in Stage 1.
“I feel like we got a lot of points today and built our buffer to the cutline, got a stage win, so overall, good day,” Zilisch said.
The No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet had been on an incredible run, seemingly unstoppable at times over the last eight races. Zilisch’s four-race winning streak was improbable in itself. It began at Watkins Glen International on Aug. 9, when he slipped from his car’s window in a scary Victory Lane fall that resulted in a broken collarbone. Without missing a race, he returned for the Xfinity Series’ next event at Daytona International Speedway on Aug. 22 and started the event before Parker Kligerman subbed in and subsequently won — a victory credited in the scorebook to Zilisch himself.
He followed those two triumphs with respective wins at Portland International Raceway and World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, two completely unique tracks at which he had never raced.
The 19-year-old seemed poised to do it all over again Friday at Bristol, but fate had something else in mind at the 0.533-mile bullring.
“When you’re upset with fifth place, you’re doing something right,” Zilisch said. “We’ll keep building on it and get better in Kansas. But I know that we are heading in the right direction as a team and things are looking upward. And we’re leading lots of laps and putting ourselves in position.”
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