A week after their battle on the streets of Chicago, JR Motorsports teammates Connor Zilisch and Shane Van Gisbergen dueled again on the road in wine country, with the 18-year-old phenom getting his redemption with the victory this time around.
The teammates’ battle started in qualifying with SVG nabbing the pole position and Zilisch lining up right next to him on the front row, starting where they finished last week.
Van Gisbergen led from the green flag with the challenges from Zilisch starting early, driving his No. 88 Camaro to the lead on the third lap of the race, before losing it to SVG just three laps later.
The first stage progressed with the two JRM drivers keeping each other honest before the first round of pit stops, which saw the dominant duo following each other into the pits. Zilisch’s No. 88 crew was able to get him out in front of SVG’s No. 9 Chevy.
As the stage came to a close, Haas Factory Team’s Sam Mayer drove his No. 41 Ford to the stage 1 victory.
Stage One Results:
- #41 Sam Mayer
- #20 Brandon Jones
- #1 Carson Kvapil
- #8 Sammy Smith
- #00 Sheldon Creed
- #42 Anthony Alfredo
- #07 Alex Labbe
- #21 Austin Hill
- #88 Connor Zilisch
- #39 Ryan Sieg
Stage two began, and the war commenced once again as SVG got by his teammate in turn 11. However, Zilisch remained close behind the Kiwi Comet. As the stage pushed on, the No. 9 began to struggle on his tires, allowing the 88 to sneak by him once again.
The two dove onto pit lane one after the other before the end of the stage once again with the 88 crew besting the 9 to put Zilisch out in front of his main rival. As for the overall lead of the race, the two JRM drivers handed the stage win to Brandon Jones’ No. 20 car. Jones cruised his Joe Gibbs Toyota to the stage two victory.
Stage Two Results:
- #20 Brandon Jones
- #7 Justin Allgaier
- #8 Sammy Smith
- #00 Sheldon Creed
- #1 Carson Kvapil
- #31 Blaine Perkins
- #88 Connor Zilisch
- #27 Jeb Burton
- #70 Rodgers
- #39 Sieg
On the final restart, the 88 jumped the 9, who stumbled and dropped down to third behind the 18 of William Sawalich. The 88 managed the pace out front while the 9 dispatched the 18 for second place.
As the laps wound down, the 9 began closing in on the 88, looking for a place to make his move. With two laps to go, SVG gave Zilisch a bump into turn 4, followed by more contact through the esses section and down into turn 11 with the white flag in sight.
On the final lap, van Gisbergen made a dive into turn 7 that Zilisch deftly blocked. SVG tried one more move to the outside around turn 11 but to no avail.
Zilisch pulled away off the final corner and took his third Xfinity series victory of the year while the multi-time Supercars champion was forced to settle for second.
William Sawalich had a great run, ending up with a third-place finish for JGR. Nick Sanchez finished in fourth position, with part-timer Riley Herbst rounding out the top-5 finishers for JGR.
After this race, Zilisch lies fourth overall in the Xfinity Series points standings, with Justin Allgaier maintaining his commanding points lead.
(Featured Image Credits: @JRMotorsports on Twitter/X)
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