By David Morgan, Associate Editor
SPEEDWAY, Ind. – JR Motorsports has hit the century mark in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and did so at one of the most famous race tracks in the world.
Connor Zilisch, the 19-year-old phenom, took the bull by the horns in the closing laps of Saturday’s Pennzoil 250 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, reclaiming the lead with two laps to go over Taylor Gray and holding the point to the finish to score his fifth win of 2025 and the 100th for JRM dating back to the team’s first win in 2008.
“It’s incredible. Not a lot of words to describe the feeling,” said Zilisch of being the driver to deliver win No. 100.
“I’ve been a part of this team for less than a year, and I’ve got six wins with JRM in I think 24 races. So, a quarter of the races I’ve run, I’ve won, which is a stat that is pretty hard to imagine.
“And if you told me that July last year, I would’ve called you crazy. So yeah, I don’t really have words to describe how cool it is to win 100. The 100th race for JRM, I know it means a lot to Dale, Kelley, LW, Mr. H, everybody that works at the shop, this one’s definitely special for ’em.
“I’ve been a part of the team for, like I said, just under a year. And even in the time that I’ve been with the team, I’ve learned to love the people and it’s just been an awesome journey.”
The team co-owned by Dale Earnhardt, Jr. has been on an absolute tear this season, winning 12 times in 21 races among six different drivers – Zilisch, Justin Allgaier, Kyle Larson, Shane van Gisbergen, Sammy Smith, and Daniel Suarez.
All in all, 22 different drivers have carried the JRM banner into Victory Lane in the Xfinity Series, future Cup Series stars and NASCAR Hall of Famers among them.
In addition to the six drivers that have won races for the team this season, the list also includes the likes of Mark Martin, Brad Keselowski, Ron Fellows, Jamie McMurray, Regan Smith, Chase Elliott, Kevin Harvick, Kasey Kahne, Earnhardt Jr., Elliott Sadler, William Byron, Tyler Reddick, Michael Annett, Noah Gragson, Josh Berry, and Sam Mayer.
“It’s a big deal, man,” Earnhardt said of the historic win for his team.
“I guess the one thing that I’d like to say is thank you to every employee that opened the door, walked through that building in the last, I don’t know how many years, everybody that’s working upstairs in the office, everybody on the shop floor. I don’t care if you push a room, clean the toilet or build a superspeedway car that we went to Daytona with, it takes every single employee to move all that forward and to keep it going.
“And so, everyone or anyone that ever stepped in that building had an influence on anything we ever did. And that goes with all the drivers obviously too is a list of great drivers that were behind the wheel of our cars over the years that have helped us win all these races.
“You don’t set out to win 100 races, you just set out to win the first one you can to get one win and maybe another and then maybe another and you just stack it together and then you try to stack years together and try to give your partners value and just, it’s been a fun ride.
“It’s been rewarding and wonderful. There’s been some tough times and some hard times, but it’s what you willing to go through to have the great moments and protect the livelihood of your employees too. So yeah, it is been awesome and special place to win at Indy. Connor did an incredible job to be able to get the lead back and be able to win the race, so it’s a special day.”
Former JRM driver Mayer, who now drives for Haas Factory Team, came home in the runner-up spot on Saturday, having played a key role in pushing Zilisch into a spot for him to be able to challenge and retake the lead from Gray in the closing laps.
Mayer started the race on pole and led the opening 32 laps on the day, but had nothing for Zilisch once he was clear into the lead at the end of the race.
The remainder of the top-five would go to Gray, Larson, and Ryan Sieg, with Sammy Smith, Daniel Dye, Jesse Love, and Dean Thompson rounding out the top-10 finishers.
How It Happened
After Mayer won the first stage, the race shifted into a battle between the Chevrolets of Zilisch, Allgaier, and Larson, with the JRM teammates in Allgaier and Zilisch separating themselves from the pack in the second stage.
Allgaier would outduel his young teammate to take the stage win before getting snookered by Larson to start the final stage as Larson took over the lead with 35 to go, but Allgaier would get back by him on the next restart with 27 laps remaining following a caution for Carson Kvapil.
The yellow flag would fly for the fifth time on the day on Lap 82 of 100 due to weather in the area, bunching the field back up for a restart on Lap 87.
However, this time around Allgaier was not so lucky restarting on the outside of Larson, with the latter washing up into Allgaier in Turn 2, which put Allgaier into the wall and ended his shot at being the driver to deliver his team owner win No. 100.
Zilisch would be the beneficiary of that incident as he took over the lead ahead of Gray and Mayer with 14 laps left on the board.
But it wasn’t over yet as Austin Hill and Aric Almirola found themselves at odds with each other in Turn 3 after a nudge from Almirola sent Hill into the outside wall and then Hill retaliated by turning back down the track into the right rear of Almirola and hooked him head on into the wall to bring out the caution.
Hill would get a five-lap reckless driving hold on pit road for the incident.
While under the yellow, a rain storm moved over the track and necessitated a twelve-minute red flag for cleanup and track drying, with the field getting re-racked for the upcoming restart that would decide the race.
Zilisch elected to take the bottom lane with Mayer lined up behind him, while Gray and Sheldon Creed lined up on the outside for what would be the final restart with five laps to go.
Gray would get the jump on the restart with Zilisch slotting in second once they got sorted out, running in Gray’s tire tracks as he worked to set him up to retake the lead and the win.
Heading into Turn 3 with three laps to go, Zilisch was able to get alongside Gray, but couldn’t clear him as Mayer pushed Gray back past him. But Zilisch would not be denied, as he regrouped and made another run at him.
Using the same move he had used the lap prior, Zilisch got right up behind Gray’s rear bumper, getting him loose and using the momentum off Turn 2 to get underneath him yet again. This time around, Mayer pulled low and followed Zilisch, which gave him the boost he needed to clear Gray into Turn 3.
From there on out, it was smooth sailing as he led the final lap and a half to score the victory. As they say, the rest is history.
Afterwards, Earnhardt heaped the praise on his young driver, noting that what he is doing now at JRM is only the beginning of his story and he is primed to be one of the sport’s elites one day.
“Honestly, I think that kid has potential to do incredible Hall of Fame worthy things and I’m glad he is driving our car,” Earnhardt said.
“I’m glad that JR Motorsports and all the folks that are working there will forever be woven into his fabric of his story and he’s woven into the fabric of ours. I think that’s really neat.”
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