Video: Ryan Blaney discusses pole win at Watkins Glen
Ryan Blaney talks about edging Shane Van Gisbergen for the pole position for the Go Bowling at The Glen on Aug. 9, 2025 at Watkins Glen International.
A thrilling finish for Connor Zilisch in the Mission 200 at The Glen on Saturday, Aug. 9 took a scary turn when he tumbled while climbing out of his car and hit his head on the surface of victory lane at Watkins Glen International.
About an hour after the Xfinity Series race, a NASCAR official announced Zilisch was transported to an unspecified local hospital, adding Zilisch was “awake and alert.” Any further updates will come from his team, JR Motorsports.
All scheduled postrace activities were canceled.
Zilisch, who turned 19 in July, is scheduled to race in Sunday afternoon’s Go Bowling at The Glen Cup Series race.
The incident followed Zilisch’s sixth victory this season in the Xfinity Series and seventh overall in the series. His first came last year at Watkins Glen in his series debut.
Zilisch pulled away over the final three laps for his third victory at the road course since September.
He was out in front of a wreck between Turn 5 and Turn 6 with eight laps remaining that included 16 cars and led to a 45-minute red-flag stoppage.
Racing went green with four laps to go. Sammy Smith took a brief lead off the restart, but Zilich overtook him in the Esses section of the 2.45-mile road course and pulled away to win by 2.326 seconds.
Mission 200 at The Glen Results
Race results, with finish, starting position, car number, driver, team, number of laps completed:
- Connor Zilisch (1), 88 Registrix Chevrolet, 82 laps.
- Sam Mayer (4), No. 41 Audibel Ford, 82.
- Sammy Smith (6), No. 8 Pilot Chevrolet, 82.
- Austin Hill (10), No. 21 Bennett Transportation Chevrolet, 82.
- Carson Kvapil (14), No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/Clarience Tech Chevrolet.
- Justin Allgaier (9), No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet, 82.
- Austin Green (18), No. 16 Celsius Chevrolet, 82.
- Christian Eckes (36), No. 32 3Dimensional.com Chevrolet, 82.
- Brandon Jones (13), No. 20 Menards/Pelonis Toyota, 82.
- Harrison Burton (17), No. 25 AirBox Ford, 82.
- Kaz Grala (8), No. 24 Overplay Games Toyota, 82.
- Brennan Poole (31), No. 44 Macc/E-Z Lift Garage Doors Chevrolet, 82.
- Dean Thompson (19), No. 26 Thompson Pipe Group Toyota, 82.
- Jesse Love (15), No. 2 Samsara Chevrolet, 82.
- Jeremy Clements (30), No. 51 All Weather Power Equipment Chevrolet, 82.
- Jeb Burton (23), No. 27 Bommarito.com Chevrolet.
- Daniel Dye (21), No. 10 Race to Stop Suicide Chevrolet.
- Taylor Gray (3), No. 54 Operation 300 Toyota, 82.
- Stefan Parsons (26), No. 45 Mongoose Power Solutions Chevrolet, 82.
- Austin J. Hill (38), No. 53 Southern Ohio Equipment Co. Chevrolet, 82.
- Glen Reen, (35), No. 35 Eternal Fan Toyota, 82.
- Parker Retzlaff (22), No. 4 Monroe Kitchen Chevrolet, 82.
- Blaine Perkins (32), No. 31 Warrior Health Foundation Chevrolet, 80.
- Nick Sanchez (7), No. 48 Borchetta Bourbon Chevrolet, 75.
- Michael McDowell (12), No. 11 Different Night Same Rodeo Chevrolet, 73.
- William Sawalich (5), No. 18 Soundgear Toyota, 73.
- Josh Bilicki (27), No. 91 Trim-Tex Chevrolet, 73
- Ryan Sieg (29), No. 39 SciAps Ford, 73.
- Ryan Ellis (33), No. 71 Tablo Chevrolet, 73.
- Kyle Sieg (28), No. 28 Monroe Extinguisher Ford, 73.
- Shane Van Gisbergen (2), No. 9 Kubota Chevrolet, 64.
- Anthony Alfredo (20), No. 42 Dude Wipes Chevrolet, 63.
- Matt DiBenedetto (24), No. 99 Viking Motorsports Chevrolet, 52.
- Preston Pardus (34), No. 07 Priority Tire Chevrolet, 52.
- Sheldon Creed (11), No. 00 Road Ranger Ford, 50.
- Riley Herbst (16), No. 19 Monster Energy Toyota, 39.
- Thomas Annunziata (25), No. 70 Bayshore Mortgage Chevrolet, 24.
- Garrett Smithley (37), No. 14 Bully Hill Vineyards Chevrolet, 3.
Time of race: 2 hours, 26 minutes, 49 seconds.
Caution flags: 7 for 20 laps.
Lead changes: 17 among 8 drivers. Zilisch laps 1-6; Van Gisbergen 7; Zilisch 8-18, Allgaier 19-21, Zilisch 22-3, Sawalich 24, Zilisch 25-43, Van Gisbergen 44, Zilisch 45-53, Retzlaff 54, Love 55, Van Gisbergen 56-64, Zilisch 65-68, Hill 69-71, McDowell 72, Zilisch 73-77, Smith 78, Zilisch 79-82.
