NXS Race Recap: Mission 200 at the Glen

The NASCAR Xfinity Series continued its schedule with the Mission 200 at the Glen. The usual suspects, Connor Zilisch and Shane van Gisbergen, started the race on the front row. Sam Mayer and Taylor Gray started on the second row. Justin Allgaier started the race in ninth. The stage lengths were 20 laps for the first and second stages, with the final stage being 42 laps.

Zilisch v SVG

Zilisch got a huge launch at the start of the race. He snagged the lead into turn one. SVG did not allow Zilisch to scamper away. They both pulled away from Mayer in third. Gray got a run off of turn one and used it to pass Mayer for third.

The car underneath Garrett Smithley began to have smoke pour out of it. He was able to make it to the pits.

Ryan Sieg and Josh Bilicki got together, which sent Bilicki into the sand trap in turn six. Bilicki could not get out of the sand, and this brought out the first caution of the day.

SVG and Zilisch brought the field back to green. They both got good restarts and drove into turn one side by side. SVG used the runoff in turn one. Zilisch was able to retake his lead into the esses. William Sawalich got a great run on the back stretch to pass SVG for second. SVG was able to get back into second, but Sawalich held him off for about a lap. That allowed Zilisch to pull away by over a second and a half.

Thomas Annunziata and Anthony Alfredo made contact in turn six. They both spun into the runoff but were able to stay out of the sand.

Flipping the Stage

SVG was the first car on pit road. Sawalich followed SVG into the pits with three to go in the stage. Zilisch waited until two to go in the stage to make his scheduled pit stop. Allgaier took the lead while Zilisch was in the pits.

Gray did not let Allgaier go easy. He stayed within half a second of Allgaier on the last lap of the stage. Allgaier let his rear hang out, fighting to keep the lead. He would hold on to it and win stage one in the Mission 200 at the Glen!

Allgaier was the first in and first out of the pits. Harrison Burton gained four spots.

Zilisch is Unbeatable

Sawalich joined Zilisch on the front row for the restart. They both got solid restarts, but Zilisch took the lead out of turn one. He immediately built his lead to over a second. SVG, who restarted in third, got shuffled to fifth.

Annunziata got turned around and backed his car into the outside wall in turn 7. He was able to quickly get it onto pit road, preventing a caution from coming out.

Allgaier overdrove turn one and lost several spots. Daniel Dye squeezed Allgaier into the grass, causing Allgaier to take evasive action, which resulted in the mistake.

With 10 to go in the stage, Zilisch had built his lead to almost four seconds. SVG passed Sammy Smith to get to fourth. Sawalich and Mayer split the teammates. SVG used his left side to shove Mayer out of the way in turn one. He completed the pass as they drove into the esses.

Sawalich was the first to complete his scheduled pit stop with three to go in the stage. Brandon Jones and Taylor Gray joined him on pit road.

Daniel Dye had his right front tire go down after the pits were closed. He was able to limp around to the pits.

Zilisch chose not to pit. He would go on to win stage two in the Mission 200 at the Glen! SVG and Mayer joined him on the podium.

Stage 3

Zilisch and SVG got the third stage started from the front row. SVG got a better jump, but Zilisch drove into turn one deeper than his teammate and was able to take the lead into the esses. The top two pulled away from Austin Hill in third.

Zilisch continued to show his speed after building his lead to over two and a half seconds.

SVG pitted as soon as the fuel window opened up. He lucked out as immediately after he got onto pit road, the caution came out for Sheldon Creed. Parker Retzlaff was trying to get back onto the racing surface when he hit Creed in the left rear. Creed got turned around and eventually blew a tire out.

Most of the drivers pitted for tires and fuel that would take them to the end of the race. Carson Kvapil was the first car out of the pits. Gray and Hill followed him. Zilisch was the fourth car off of pit road.

Retzlaff and Jesse Love restarted the race on the front row. SVG restarted in third, while Zilisch was in ninth when the green flag came back out. SVG immediately jumped on the front two. He took them three wide into turn one and passed them both to take the lead.

Zilisch was able to quickly get to sixth. He drove underneath Nick Sanchez, in turn one, to get back into the top five. The next two cars he passed were Michael McDowell and Jesse Love, which he wasted no time doing.

Zilisch Back in the Top Three

With 24 to go, the top three were separated by half a second. Zilisch caught the back of Hill. He used a great run into turn seven to get next to Hill. Zillisch was able to complete the pass, driving into turn one.

SVG and Zilisch began battling for the top spot. Zilisch did not give up and even pushed SVG. They pulled away from Hill by over a second. They got into each other, which allowed Hill to catch up and even get side by side with Zilisch. Zilisch was able to keep it together and keep the runner-up spot.

Zilisch used a great run out of the carousel and got next to SVG. They drove door-to-door into turn six. Zilisch used the runoff out of turn six and tried to get back onto the racing surface. He connected with the right rear of SVG, which turned him around. SVG backed his car into the outside wall in turn seven. That brought out the fifth caution of the day.

14 to Go

Zilisch and Hill brought the field back to green. Zilisch got a much better jump and quickly took the lead. Hill slid behind Zilisch and used his bumper to move him and take the lead.

The sixth caution came out before they could complete the lap. Debris coming out of the bus stop was the reason for the caution.

Hill and McDowell brought the field back to the green flag. Zilisch restarted on the third row. Hill used the entire restart zone before getting going. They both raced side by side into turn one. McDowell drove out of turn one with the lead. Zilisch got back into fourth through the esses.

McDowell and Hill drove into turn six and seven next to each other, and even made contact. Zilisch drove underneath Sammy Smith in turn one. He powered his way passed Hill through the esses. He used a huge run up to the bus stop to retake the lead.

Driving out of the carousel, McDowell got turned off the nose of Hill. McDowell hit the outside wall nose-first. There was a big stack up as the track got blocked with cars. McDowell, Hill, Taylor Gray, Preston Pardus, Sawalich, Kaz Grala, Jeb Burton, Alfredo, Ryan Ellis, Bilicki, Kyle Sieg, and Ryan Sieg were all of the cars involved. That brought out the caution and then the red flag.

NASCAR lifted the red flag, so the cars began pacing under the yellow flag. Nick Sanchez had something break on his car, which sent him into the outside wall in the carousel. NASCAR extended the caution period.

The Finale

With four to go, Zilisch and Smith brought the field back to the green flag. They made contact before getting through the restart zone. Smith took the lead on the front stretch and into turn one. Zilisch used a great run out of the turn to retake his lead.

Retzlaff got turned around in turn one. He got it spun the right way, and the race stayed green.

Zilisch quickly pulled away from Smith by over half a second. Mayer caught the back of Smith and made the pass through the carousel.

Zilisch would set sail and build his lead to over two seconds. He took the white flag, and then the checkered flag to win the Mission 200 at the Glen! It was his sixth win on the season. Mayer, Smith, Hill, and Kvapil rounded out the top five.

Marvin’s Minute:

Connor Zilisch is the real deal. He is easily the best driver in the Xfinity Series, even when SVG races the road courses. He should be the clear favorite to win the championship.

I have to add this, though. During his celebration in victory lane, he took a tumble. He went to step on his door and roof, which has been done by every winning driver since the invention of racing, and slipped on his window net. He fell to the ground. Zilisch was put on a backboard and into an ambulance. They brought him to the hospital; however, he later tweeted out that he was ok but did suffer a broken collarbone. His status for the remainder of the season is up in the air. His team did pull his car out of the NASCAR Cup Series race.

With that being said, if he is healthy, he should be the favorite. He has impressed me more than I thought he would. I hope he is healthy and can compete for what he has earned.