On an early central New York morning, 41 drivers take to the track at Watkins Glen International for a practice session and qualifying in the Xfinity Series for the Mission 200 at the Glen.
Three drivers will not make the race with 38 starting spots.
Goodyear has brought a new tire compound for both series this weekend.
After announcing earlier in the week that he would be retiring from full time driving at the end of the season, Parker Kligerman puts his number 48 car in the top five during practice.
Still in his teens, Connor Zilisch makes his Xfinity Series debut at Watkins Glen in the JR Motorsports number 88 car…and is putting his car in the top five. Zilisch dominated the ARCA race on Friday night and is an IMSA winner including the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona. He will be joining JRM next season as a full time driver.
Joey Logano is driving the number 15 car again this week; Cup Series drivers Ty Gibbs, William Byron, and Ross Chastain are also hoping to make the race before running the Cup Series race on Sunday.
Joey Logano reported some brake issues in his car during practice.
The drivers have been divided into two groups for group qualifying. Ed Jones and Josh Williams did not make a qualifying run from group A due to engine and transmission changes.
The top five drivers from each group will move on to a second round of qualifying to set the pole.
The top five drivers from Group A moving on to round two are Connor Zilisch, AJ Allmendinger, Ty Gibbs, Sam Mayer, and Sheldon Creed.
Eighteen year old Connor Zilisch posted a time of 61. 364 seconds around the 2.45 mile course.
Back on the track after a long break, Aric Almirola gets into the wall driving the number 20 car this weekend. The Joe Gibbs Racing number 20 car has won seven times this season with part time drivers.
William Byron gets loose and gets off the track but still puts down a top five lap.
In Group B, Justin Allgaier puts down a lap of 61.039 seconds. To top the list.
With six minutes remaining in Group B qualifying, no one is on the track! After a couple of minutes Aric Almirola and Austin Hill make a qualifying run to start the list of drivers hitting the track.
The top five drivers moving on to round two from Group B are Justin Allgaier, William Byron, Aric Almirola, Chandler Smith, and Austin Hill.
The top 10 drivers take to the track to make a run for the pole.
Posting a time of 61.028 Connor Zilisch puts the number 88 car on the pole in his very first Xfinity Series race.
The starting lineup for the Mission 200:
Connor Zilisch
Ty Gibbs
AJ Allmendinger
Justin Allgaier
Sam Mayer
Chandler Smith
William Byron
Aric Almirola
Sheldon Creed
Austin Hill
Jesse Love
Riley Herbst
Ryan Sieg
Shane van Gisbergen
Cole Custer
Brandon Jones
Sammy smith
Jeremy Clements
Parker Kligerman
Matt DiBenedetto
Ross Chastain
Alon Day
Parker Retzlaff
Anthony Alfredo
Mike Skeen
Josh Bilicki
Austin Green
Jeb Burton
Kyle Weatherman
Thomas Annunziata
Brennan Poole
Leland Honeyman
Joey Logano
RC Enerson
Ryan Ellis
Kyle Sieg
Ed Jones
Josh Williams
Jade Buford, Kyle Keller, and Blaine Perkins failed to qualify for the race.
Stages one and two of the race are 20 laps each with stage three lasting 42 laps for a total of 82 laps around the 2.45 mile road course.
A road course race, NBC is calling the race “radio style” with broadcasters scattered around the track to report events.
Making his Xfinity Series debut, 18 year old Connor Zilisch brings the field down for the green flag start of the race from the outside lane. Zilisch edges out in front for the lead with Ty Gibbs in second and Justin Allgaier in third.
The field gets single file going into the carousel.
Lap two, the top five are Connor Zilisch, Ty Gibbs, Justin Allgaier, AJ Allmendinger, and Chandler Smith.
After having to start the race from the back of the field, Shane van Gisbergen is working his way through the field and is up to 27th place.
Lap three Ty Gibbs battles with Conner Zilisch for the lead.
Lap four, Connor Zilisch holds on to the lead with Ty Gibbs on his bumper; Justin Allgaier, AJ Allmendinger, and Chandler Smith round out the top five. Shane van Gisbergen is up to 23rd.
Lap five, Conner Zilisch has pulled out to a one second lead on Ty Gibbs; Justin Allgaier, AJ Allmendinger, and Chandler Smith continue to round out the top five.
Lap six, Connor Zilisch increases his lead to a second and a half on Ty Gibbs.
Sammy Smith is reporting a vibration or engine issue.
Lap nine, Connor Zilisch has pulled out to a lead of two and a half seconds on Ty Gibbs; Justin Allgaier, AJ Allmendinger, and William Byron round out the top five. Shane van Gisbergen has entered the top 20.
Lap eleven, Conner Zilisch is now over three seconds out in front of Ty Gibbs; Justin Allgaier, AJ Allmendinger, and William Byron round out the top five.
Lap 12, Connor Zilisch continues to increase his lead and is now four seconds out in front of the field.
Lap 13, Connor Zilisch continues to increase his lead and is now five seconds out in front while Ty Gibbs and Justin Allgaier are in a battle for second.
Riley Herbst misses the inner loop. The rule is if a driver misses the inner loop, they must come to a complete stop before rejoining traffic.
Lap 14, Connor Zilisch is “driving it like he stole it” with a lead of over five and a half seconds.
Lap 17, Connor Zilisch has left the field and is over eight seconds out in front.
Parker Kligerman is reporting some gear issues
Three laps remaining in stage one, some of the drivers are flipping the stage and making their pit stops.
Kyle Weatherman is off the track.
Broadcaster Jeff Burton noted that Connor Zilisch’s lead is more than they have ever seen at Watkins Glen.
Connor Zilisch wins stage one with a lead of over 10 seconds.
The top 10 at the end of stage one:
Connor Zilisch
Justin Allgaier
Aric Almirola
Chandler Smith
Sheldon Creed
Cole Custer
Jesse Love
Riley Herbst
Ryan Sieg
Jeremy Clements
Drivers who did not short pit, come down pit road for service with Justin Allgaier leading the race off of pit road.
Chandler Smith had some debris on his front grille, he came down pit road where they raised the hood and added water before servicing the car.
Sammy Smith has a broken right rear shock and mount. The crew is working to make repairs.
Alon Day had an incident on pit road and hit one of his crew members. The crew member is fine.
Alon Day and Thomas Annunziata were caught speeding on pit road.
Ty Gibbs brings the field down for the green flag start of stage two with AJ Allmendinger alongside on lap 25. Connor Zilisch restarts the race in 13th.
AJ Allmendinger passes Ty Gibbs for the lead; Sam Mayer, William Byron, and Justin Allgaier round out the top five.
William Byron passes Sam Mayer for third.
Lap 26, Ty Gibbs challenges AJ Allmendinger for the lead. Connor Zilisch to eleventh.
William Byron battles with Ty Gibbs for second.
Lap 27, the top five are AJ Allmendinger, Ty Gibbs, William Byron, Sam Mayer, and Justin Allgaier. Connor Zilisch has entered the top 10. Shane van Gisbergen is in seventh after nearly going a lap down at the end of stage one.
Lap 28, AJ Allmendinger leads the race with William Byron and Ty Gibbs battling for second. Byron takes second.
Lap 30, AJ Allmendinger leads the race with William Byron on his bumper; Ty Gibbs, Sam Mayer, and Justin Allgaier rounding out the top five.
William Byron passes AJ Allmendinger for the lead.
Ty Gibbs and AJ Allmendinger battle for third.
Leland Honeyman misses the inner loop and is spins out. He has a flat tire.
Lap 31, William Byron has a second and a half lead on Ty Gibbs; AJ Allmendinger, Justin Allgaier, and Sam Mayer round out the top five.
Lap 34; now in third, AJ Allmendinger is very frustrated and is slamming his hands on the steering wheel.
Lap 35, William Byron has a lead of over two seconds on Ty Gibbs; AJ Allmendinger, Sam Mayer, and Justin Allgaier round out the top five with Connor Zilisch in sixth place
Connor Zilisch passes Justin Allgaier for fifth.
Shane van Gisbergen and Justin Allgaier battle for sixth.
Kyle Weatherman is out of the race.
With four laps remaining in stage two, some of the drivers short pit the end of the stage.
With two laps remaining in stage two, Connor Zilisch passes teammate Sam Mayer for third.
With a lead of over four seconds, William Byron wins stage two.
The top 10 at the end of stage two:
William Byron
Ty Gibbs
Connor Zilisch
Sam Mayer
Justin Allgaier
Cole Custer
Riley Herbst
Austin Hill
Rya Sieg
Jeremy Clements
Aric Almirola is on pit road with gear issues. Parker Kligerman said that he has lost fourth gear and William Byrn reports that his car is popping in and out of gear.
Some of the drivers come down pit road for service with Justin Allgaier winning the race off of pit road.
AJ Allmendinger has to come down pit road with a flat tire.
Thomas Annunziata has parked his car in his pit stall and is headed to the care center overheated. He did not have a cool suit and his helmet hose kept coming out.
William Byron brings the field down for the green flag start of stage three on lap 45 with Ty Gibbs alongside. William Byron goes wide and falls back to fifth. Ty Gibbs leads the race. All of the drivers must make one more pit stop.
Lap 46, Mike Skeen and Justin Allgaier make contact and get into the gravel pit. Skeen got moving again, but Justin Allgaier is stuck and brings out the first caution flag of the day for an on track incident.
Ty Gibbs, Sam Mayer, and Connor Zilisch all have to go to the back of the field after missing the inner loop under caution.
Some drivers come down pit road for service but they are still outside of their pit windows.
Cole Custer brings the field down for the green flag restart with 33 laps remaining in the race. Custer gets out in front with William Byron in second; Shane van Gisbergen, Riley Herbst, and Chandler smith round out the top five.
Lap 50, Cole Custer has a half second lead on William Byron; Shane van Gisbergen, Riley Herbst, and Chandler Smith round out the top five. Connor Zilisch is in 27th place.
Lap 52, William Byron passes Cole Custer for the lead.
Points leader Justin Allgaier is one lap down.
Lap 53, Shane van Gisbergen passes Cole Custer for second; William Byron leads the race by nearly a second.
Lap 53, leader William Byron comes down pit road for service. Shane van Gisbergen is the new leader.
Riley Herbst and Chandler Smith beat and bang each other for fourth.
Running in fourth place, Parker Kligerman is operating with three gears.
With 27 laps to go, more drivers work their way down pit road for the last stop of the day.
Shane van Gisbergen has pulled out to a lead of over three seconds on Riley Herbst; Parker Kligerman, Ed Jones, and Joey Logano round out the top five.
After restarting at the back of the field for missing the inner loop, Connor Zilisch is up to sixth.
Connor Zilisch passes Jesse Love for fifth.
Lap 60, Shane van Gisbergen continues to lead the race with Riley Herbst in second; Parker Kligerman, Ed Jones, and Connor Zilisch round out the top five.
Twenty to go, Shane van Gisbergen has a lead of over four and a half seconds on Riley Herbst; Parker Kligerman, Connor Zilisch, and Sheldon Creed round out the top five.
Just 18 laps to go, Shane van Gisbergen has a lead of over five seconds on Riley Herbst.
Riley Herbst comes down pit road and gives second over to Parker Kligerman. Shane van Gisbergen has a lead of over six and a half seconds.
With 17 to go, Parker Kligerman makes his pit stop and gives second place over to Connor Zilisch with Shane van Gisbergen 10 seconds out in front.
Kyle Sieg is out of the race. Alon Day is off the course.
William Byron makes an unscheduled trip down pit road for a tire issue. The crew changes all four tires.
With 16 to go, Shane van Gisbergen makes his pit stop; Connor Zilisch is the new leader.
Shane van Gisbergen was caught speeding on pit road and will have to serve a pass through penalty.
Twelve to go, Connor Zilisch continues to lead the race with Sheldon Creed in second; Ty Gibbs, AJ Allmendinger, and Ed Jones round out the top five.
Ten to go, Connor Zilisch has a lead of over five seconds on Sheldon Creed.
Alon Day is out of the race.
Just nine laps to go, Connor Zilisch has a lead of six seconds on Sheldon Creed; ty Gibbs, AJ Allmendinger, and Ed Jones round out the top five.
Ty Gibbs passes Sheldon Creed for second with eight seconds to go.
Seven to go, Sheldon Creed comes down pit road for fuel.
Matt DiBeneditto is stopped on the track with just six laps remaining in the race. The caution flag comes out with six to go. Before Matty D was stopped on the track, there were flames under the car.
Jesse Love comes down pit road for fresh tires.
Connor Zilisch brings the field down for the two lap shootout to end the race with Ty Gibbs alongside. AJ Allmendinger tries to make it a three wide battle for the lead but Connor Zilisch gets out in front as the caution flag comes out for a wreck. The race goes into overtime!
NASCAR has red flagged the race to get the fluid on the track cleaned up. So much speedy dry is needed that the clean up crew had to refill the hopper!
Anthony Alfredo, William Byron, Austin Hill, Ed Jones, Josh Williams, and Sammy Smith were all involved in the crash.
When Thomas Annunziata exited the car and went to the car center, Joey Gase took over the driving duties in the car.
After a red flag condition of 22 minutes, the yellow flag is out and the cars are moving again. Justin Allgaier gets the “lucky dog” and is back on the lead lap in 25th place.
With several cars with serious fuel issues, Connor Zilisch brings the field down for the overtime shootout to end the race with teammate Sam Mayer alongside. Zilisch gets out in front for the lead with Sam Mayer in second. Ty Gibbs is stopped on the track out of fuel. Wreck in the inner loop brings out the caution flag. Brandon Jones gets shoved into the grass. Mike Skeen is also involved in the crash.
And the race goes into a second overtime!
The top three drivers – Connor Zilisch, Sam Mayer, and AJ Allmendinger – were on pit road on lap 48, they are now on lap 87. Fuel is a serious issue for all three drivers. The fifth place driver – Shane van Gisbergen – was last on pit road on lap 66 and has plenty of fuel to finish the race. If van Gisbergen should win, it will be his fourth road course win in a row – something that has never been done before.
The caution flag has been extended due to some fluid on the track.
Connor Zilisch brings the field down for the second overtime shootout for the finish with Sam Mayer alongside. Zilisch edges out for the lead with a three way battle for second. There’s a crash in the back of the field but the track stays green.
Justin Allgaier gets into the wall in the bus stop.
Connor Zilisch takes the white flag!
Connor Zilisch has pulled out to a lead of over two second.
Big crash on the back straightaway bringing out the caution flag.
Eighteen year old Connor Zilisch comminated the ARCA race on Friday night, sat on the pole for the Xfinity race, and survived a double overtime to win his first ever Xfinity Series race in his debut.
The caution flag came out on the last lap for a crash involving Sam Mayer, Sammy Smith, and Cole Custer. There was also a wreck involving Austin Green, Brennan Poole, and Ryan Sieg.
Connor Zilisch even had enough fuel remaining to do a burnout.
Sheldon Creed earns a record 12th second place finish.
AJ Allmendinger and Sheldon Creed have earned enough points to secure a spot in the playoffs. Only two more spots are open with one more race in the regular season.
The unofficial results of the Mission 200 at The Glen:
Connor Zilisch
Sheldon Creed
AJ Allmendinger
Parker Kligerman
Chandler Smith
Shane van Gisbergen
Ross Chastain
Jesse Love
Joey Logano
Josh Bilicki
William Byron
Parker Retzlaff
Ryan Ellis
Austin Green
Justin Allgaier
Leland Honeyman
Riley Herbst
Jeremy Clements
Sammy Smith
Sam Mayer
Cole Custer
Ryan Sieg
Brennan Poole
Ed Jones
Ty Gibbs
Aric Almirola
RC Enerson
Brandon Jones
Thomas Annunziata
Mike Skeen
Jeb Burton
Josh Williams
Austin Hill
Anthony Alfredo
Matt DiBenedetto
Alon Day
Kyle Sieg
Kyle Weatherman