Connor Zilisch completes hat-trick of wins and brings up landmark feat for Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s JRM

Connor Zilisch won the Pennzoil 250 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, marking his third consecutive victory and JR Motorsports' 100th NASCAR Xfinity Series win. The 19-year-old rookie now has five wins this year, the most among the current field.

Zilisch, driver of the #88 Chevrolet Camaro at Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s JRM, started the 100-lap race in seventh. He notably capitalized on the lap 87 incident between Kyle Larson and teammate Justin Allgaier to take the lead. Taylor Gray challenged him for the win, but he was able to clear Gray on lap 99 before comfortably crossing the line in first place.

NASCAR Xfinity Series announced on X that Connor Zilisch won at the 2.5-mile oval and wrote:

“Seals the hat trick with a kiss on the bricks! 🧱🧱 (Connor Zilisch) wins at (Indianapolis Motor Speedway).”

Connor Zilisch emerged victorious ahead of pole-sitter Sam Mayer, who overtook Taylor Gray on the closing lap. Kyle Larson, driver of the part-time #17 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, finished in fourth, followed by Ryan Sieg, William Sawalich, Sammy Smith, Daniel Dye, Jesse Love, and Dean Thompson.

Despite missing one race due to an injury at Texas Motor Speedway, Zilisch ranks second behind reigning series champion Justin Allgaier. The Chevrolet driver has amassed five wins, 10 top-5s, and 12 top-10s.

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“It's so cool to get that 100”: Connor Zilisch on scoring JR Motorsports' 100th NASCAR Xfinity Series win

In a post-race interview, Connor Zilisch applauded JR Motorsports for achieving its 100th win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. He congratulated the executives, including Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kelley Earnhardt-Miller, and other team members on the milestone.

The 19-year-old JRM driver said (via NASCAR Xfinity on X):

“This is awesome. Those bricks really look kissable, and I'm ready to kiss them.” “100 wins for JRM. Congrats to Dale, Kelly (Earnhardt-Miller), L.W. (Miller), everybody who has raced for JRM, everybody who works at JRM... I'm the smallest part of this team, and, man, I'm so glad to be part of it. It's been such an awesome journey with JRM, and it's so cool to get that 100.” “Winning at Indy is awesome, and getting 100 wins for JRM is really cool too. So I consider this a pretty awesome day.”

JRM joins Richard Childress Racing on the list of teams with 100 victories in the second-tier series. Austin Hill, who was penalized at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for an incident with Aric Almirola, delivered that milestone to the Chevrolet-affiliated team earlier this year at Martinsville Speedway.

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Edited by Pratham K Sharma