The NASCAR Xfinity Series visited Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Saturday afternoon in the Pennzoil 250. Sam Mayer started the race on the pole, and Nick Sanchez started in second.
On the third lap, Harrison Burton spun off Turn 2 to bring out the first caution of the race. Sam Mayer led the opening 30 laps. He held off Justin Allgaier to win the first stage. Mayer led a total of 32 laps. After everyone made a pit stop, Aric Almirola was the leader. He and Allgaier led the field to start the second stage.
Allgaier and Almirola battled for the lead until Allgaier got it on lap 38, and Almirola fell to third place after being passed by Connor Zilisch. Zilisch challenged Allgaier for the lead on lap 52. He got underneath Allgaier and passed him heading into Turn 3. Allgaier came back seven laps later to pass Zilisch for the lead off Turn 2. He would go on to win the second stage.
With rain approaching, everyone went to pit road. Justin Allgaier and Kyle Larson were on the front row to start the final stage on lap 67. A lap later, Brandon Jones attempted to pass Allgaier for the lead. Allgaier slowed down, and Larson took the lead. Behind them, Leland Honeyman got loose and made contact with Carson Kvapil. Kvapil spun and hit the wall for the fourth caution of the race.
Some rain began to fall on the racetrack, but not enough to delay the race. On lap 72, Justin Allgaier passed Kyle Larson at Turn 2. He would briefly lose the lead to Larson at Turn 3, before getting it back again. The two continued their battle for the lead, while Connor Zilisch moved into third place by passing Brandon Jones.
Rain would fall again on the racetrack, leading to another caution on lap 82. The race restarted on lap 87. Larson made contact with Allgaier exiting off Turn 2. Brandon Jones suffered damage and Connor Zilisch took the lead.
The last caution came out on lap 91 when Aric Almirola made contact with Austin Hill. Hill got loose but regained control. Then, he hooked Almirola and sent him to hit head-on at Turn 3. Hill was penalized five laps for reckless driving.
On the restart, Taylor Gray cleared Zilisch for the lead at Turn 1. On lap 99, Zilisch passed Gray for the lead. He led the final two laps to win his third straight race by 0.339 seconds over Sam Mayer. It was the 100th win for JR Motorsports and Zilisch’s fourth win of the season. Taylor Gray, Kyle Larson, and Kyle Sieg rounded out the top five.
William Sawalich, Sammy Smith, Daniel Dye, Jesse Love, and Dean Thompson rounded out the top ten. There were six cautions for 29 laps and 10 lead changes among six drivers. Connor Zilisch led 19 laps, and Justin Allgaier led the most laps (37).
The Xfinity Series heads to Iowa Speedway next Saturday at 4:30 pm on The CW.
