Race 23 of 33: Mission 200 at The Glen
Track Specs: 2.45-mile road course / 90 laps
Race Winner: Connor Zilisch
Smith’s finish: 3rd
Kvapil’s finish: 5th
Allgaier’s finish: 6th
Van Gisbergen’s finish: 31st
Connor Zilisch
Connor Zilisch, driver of the No. 88 Registix Chevrolet, scored a dominating victory on Saturday afternoon in the NASCAR Xfinity Series event at Watkins Glen International. Zilisch, who qualified on the pole for the fifth time this season earlier in the day, led a race-high 60 laps and earned a Stage Two win before capturing his second consecutive checkered flag at the famed New York road course. Saturday’s triumph was the series-leading sixth win of the season for Zilisch and his fourth in the last five races dating back to his victory at Sonoma Raceway last month. Additionally, Zilisch’s win makes him just the second driver in JR Motorsports history to win more than six races in a season.
Sammy Smith
Sammy Smith, driver of the No. 8 Pilot Chevrolet, had a strong showing at Watkins Glen International on Saturday afternoon, ranking second in practice for the Mission 200 at The Glen. After 82 laps around the New York road course, Sith earned stage points and defended his 10th-place position in the point standings with a third-place finish.
Smith took the green flag in sixth and competed inside the top 10 until crew chief Phillip Bell called him down pit road under green to flip the stage along with his JR Motorsports teammates. This resulted in a 26th-place finish in Stage One and allowed him to start sixth in Stage Two after the remainder of the field pitted at the stage break. The young driver continued to compete around the top five until, with two laps remaining to the end of the stage, he reported he had a tire going down. Bell encouraged his driver to take it easy but push as hard as he could to finish the stage and maintain the team’s strategy. Smith was able to hold on and finish within the top 10 to earn valuable stage points.
The Iowa native took the final-stage green flag in 16th after the previous pit cycle for fresh Goodyear tires and fuel. The JRM driver methodically worked his way through the field for the next 20 laps to fourth before a caution came out. The field was green for two short laps before a huge crash took place and the NASCAR Xfinity Series race was sent under the red flag. After extensive repairs were made to one of the Armco barriers, Smith was set to restart third and, upon the choose, Smith moved up to the front row alongside teammate Connor Zilisch. After a five-lap shootout to the checkers. Smith defended his position and brought home a third-place finish for the No. 8 Pilot Chevrolet team.
“I’m proud of this Pilot team and what we accomplished today with our strategy and determination. We’ve definitely improved our road-course performances from last season and it’s a good way to head into an off-week after getting a podium finish for Pilot, TMC and Allstate Peterbilt Group.”
Carson Kvapil
Carson Kvapil, driver of the No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/Clarience Technologies Chevrolet, rolled off in the 14th position for the 82-lap feature at Watkins Glen International on Saturday afternoon. Throughout the first stage, Kvapil battled the handling of his Chevrolet. A strategy call by crew chief Andrew Overstreet saw the rookie driver come down pit road with 10 laps remaining, which set Kvapil up to start Stage Two from 10th. He was able to work his way into the top five and earn valuable stage points. After another trip down pit road for tires and fuel, Kvapil took the green flag for the final stage in 15th. He once again made quick work of the field and was knocking on the door of the top five, avoiding multiple on-track incidents in the process. Utilizing the caution at lap 65, Kvapil came down pit road again for tires and fuel and restarted 18th. The 22-year-old Mooresville native had made it up to 10th when a huge on-track incident brought out the red flag for a lengthy clean-up. Once the race restarted with less than five laps remaining, Kvapil used his fresher tires to make up as much ground as possible, ultimately taking the checkered flag in fifth.
“While we didn’t qualify as well as I would have hoped, this No. 1 team rallied to make sure I had a car capable of moving through the field. I can’t thank them enough for their hard work and it feels good to get another top-five finish for Johnny Morris and everyone at Bass Pro Shops and Clarience Technologies.”
Justin Allgaier
Justin Allgaier, driver of the No. 7 BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet, ran strong throughout Saturday afternoon’s NASCAR Xfinity Series event at Watkins Glen International. Taking the green flag in ninth, Allgaier methodically worked his way through the field en route to winning the opening stage and earning an extremely valuable playoff point before scoring an additional three points at the end of Stage Two. Then, during a final stage that saw a flurry of caution flags, crew chief Jim Pohlman made the strategy call to bring Allgaier to pit road for the final set of fresh tires ahead of a late-race restart while the leaders stayed out. As a result, Allgaier went on a charge, improving 10 positions over the final laps to take the checkered flag in sixth.
“Our BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet was really solod. Jim (Pohlman, crew chief) and all the guys on this team worked their tails off all day long and it feels good to come away with a good result in the end. Hopefully this gets that momentum back in the right direction for us. I hope that Connor has a speedy recovery and I am just thankful that he is OK.”
Shane van Gisbergen
Shane van Gisbergen started on the front row for the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Watkins Glen International, alongside teammate Connor Zilisch. Van Gisbergen battled hard during the first stage and the No. 9 opted to short-pit with four laps remaining. Van Gisbergen finished 20th in Stage One. Starting third in Stage Two, Van Gisbergen battled a loose Kubota Chevrolet for the majority of the segment and took the green-and-white checkered flag in second. The No. 9 team chose to stay out at the stage break before coming in to pit for the final time on lap 52. Van Gisbergen saw his first lead of the race during the final-stage green-flag run. On lap 65, Van Gisbergen was involved in an on-track incident while battling for the lead. The No. 9 Kubota Chevrolet had extensive damage that couldn’t be repaired, ending his race early with a 31st-place finish.
“It was not ideal. It was an awesome battle, until it wasn’t. Pretty gutted, gutted for the No. 9 JR Motorsports guys. I had a good Chevrolet, not quite fast enough but we still managed to get ourselves in a good position throughout the whole race. The car looked great, thanks to Kubota for coming on board! It’s cool to have them on my car again, but it’s a shame our race ended that way.”