At Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday, a composed Connor Zilisch ran one of the most impressive races of his young NASCAR career. The 18-year-old Xfinity Series rookie looked like a rookie during one of the race’s most important stints, which is uncommon for a young driver with wisdom beyond his years. Zilisch started the race by pacing the field in practice and qualifying third, finishing fourth in Stage 1 and third in Stage 2 to position himself for a run at the race victory in Stage 3. On Lap 100, Zilisch marked the halfway point of the race by daring move on the outside of Aric Almirola to take the lead.
Zilisch led 28 circuits during his run at Las Vegas on Saturday, which was possibly his best oval performance to date in his Xfinity Series tenure. The rookie was still aiming for a top-five finish, at the very least, even if JRM teammate Justin Allgaier finally passed Zilisch for the lead. That is, until a series of green flag pit stops on Lap 146, when Zilisch drove his No. 88 Chevrolet down pit road for the last time. Following his stop, Zilisch received an expensive pass-through penalty from NASCAR for speeding on pit road.
Zilisch didn’t lose as many spots as he could have if the event had happened at a different track because of a strung-out field, but any chance of winning the race or finishing in the top five was quickly dashed. Even though Zilisch rallied to finish eighth, Saturday was definitely a lost chance. Zilisch told CW Sports, “It was a good day all around.” “We would have finished in the top three if not for one error. Today, our car was really quick. We had a great chance, in my opinion, to sprint ahead and take the lead in several laps. Our day was ended by speeding on pit road.
