MADISON, Ill. — Limping around World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway with a wounded No. 25 Ford, Harrison Burton was watching the closing laps intensely. He was aware of the possible ramifications.
Rookie drivers William Sawalich and Christian Eckes were hounding race leader Connor Zilisch. If the No. 88 Chevrolet slipped, those two drivers would be there to duke it out. Both drivers needed to secure a victory to punch their ticket to the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs.
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Zilisch dominated the Nu Way 200, leading 121 of 160 laps. Even with the field bunched up for a restart with 12 laps remaining, Zilisch powered out to a sizable lead. When the checkered flag dropped, Sawalich was 1.5 seconds shy of the victory. Eckes placed third. Both drivers matched the best finish of their young Xfinity Series careers.
“I was looking at the leaderboard and we had old, used tires from the spin,” Burton said, clarifying that he was aware of the potential playoff-stealing drivers. “I wasn‘t really racing anybody, so I spent a lot of time watching the race for the win at the end. We left it up to chance and got lucky.”
Burton clinched a spot into the playoffs with a youthful AM Racing organization that placed 32nd in the 2024 owners standings. The revamped No. 25 team finished the regular season with a team best nine top-10 finishes.
“I knew that the team had struggled in the past, I‘m coming off of getting fired and knew that we were both hungry and eager to get ourselves into a situation like this,” Burton stated. “I felt like there were some races that we‘ve thrown away, some that we‘ve [run] better than we should have. I‘m really proud of this team to go from [32nd] or something in points to the playoffs is a big accomplishment.”
Sawalich knew Zilisch had the superior race car. His odds of winning were low without going into desperation mode. He ended the regular season with consecutive runner-up finishes.
“It‘s bittersweet,” Sawalich said of his emotions. “I can‘t thank my guys enough for bringing me a good car, we just weren‘t good enough as the 88. Just didn‘t have the pace at the end. He definitely had better long-run speed than everyone else, but we gave him a run for their money.”
Eckes made a late rally to third, the best track position he had all evening. He ended the regular season with a handful of top-five efforts and 12 top 10s, the 2025 benchmark for Kaulig Racing. Yet he‘s still frustrated the No. 16 Chevrolet wasn‘t able to reach the front.
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“I felt like we had a race-winning car, and with a restart, who knows what could happen,” Eckes said. “Disappointing not to get this team in the playoffs. They deserve being in the playoffs, but just about seven too many DNFs and a lot of problems.
“We knew we had to come here and win. We didn’t achieve that, so it is what it is, and we move on.”
Both rookie drivers had strong results down the stretch. Eckes had five top-10 finishes in the last seven races, while Sawalich the same amount in eight races. Both drivers said there is room to improve for their sophomore season.
“There is always next year,” Sawalich stated. “That is how I was looking at it when we crossed the line. We had the speed no matter what and we know what it takes to win these races now. The start of the year was definitely rough, there‘s no doubt about that. It shows how we can bounce back as a team and get ourselves together.”
With the reset, Burton ranks 11th on the playoff grid, only ahead of Austin Hill who lost 21 playoff points after a one-race suspension for wrecking Aric Almirola at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
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