XFINITY: Shane Van Gisbergen Muscles Connor Zilisch for Chicago Win

Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series event at the Chicago Street Course finally provided the matchup that everybody has been waiting for: three-time Australian Supercars champion Shane Van Gisbergen versus 18-year-old prodigy Connor Zilisch.

It took nearly the entire 50-lap contest around the 2.2-mile street course for the JR Motorsports teammates to get in close proximity of each other, but on the race’s final restart (with two laps to go) the Trackhouse Racing development drivers restarted on the front row.

Despite not being the control car on the restart, the veteran, Shane Van Gisbergen, was able to triumph against the NASCAR Xfinity Series full-timer, after making a lunge into the first corner and placing the driver of the No. 88 Chevrolet against the outside barrier, allowing the No. 9 to scurry away with the lead.

RACE RESULTS: The Loop 110 at The Chicago Street Course

Over the course of the next two laps, Zilisch worked as hard as he possibly could to close the gap on Shane Van Gisbergen, the inaugural NASCAR Cup Series race-winner on the streets of the Chicago, and although the gap closed, the Charlotte, North Carolina-native couldn’t get himself within striking distance.

Van Gisbergen crossed the start-finish line 0.823 seconds ahead of Zilisch, marking the second victory in the last four weeks for the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet – which won in the series’ return to Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in June with Daniel Suarez.

“He’s a great young driver,” Van Gisbergen said about Zilisch. “First time I’ve really raced him. I knew that was my opportunity, and I took it. Yeah, awesome 1-2 for the team.”

Van Gisbergen ended up leading a race-high 27 of 50 laps on the afternoon, but there was a point after the end of the race’s second stage where it didn’t look good for the Auckland, New Zealand-native, after the pit strategy sent the JR Motorsports No. 9 Chevrolet outside the top-15, with just a short time remaining in the race.

“I thought it was going to be a lost cause when the strategy went wrong,” Van Gisbergen said after the race. “But it worked out well. Thanks to [JR Motorsports]. The car was a rocket. WeatherTech, Red Bull, yeah, unreal day.”

Connor Zilisch came up one spot short of collecting another victory on the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series campaign, but considering the driver of the No. 88 Chevrolet started in last-place, to have a shot at the victory at all required a remarkable drive through the pack.

Sheldon Creed put together a solid effort on Saturday, finishing in third-place in the No. 00 Road Ranger Ford Mustang for Haas Factory Team. The Alpine, California-native led nine laps on the afternoon and won the second stage but lost the lead with 13 laps to go to Connor Zilisch.

Austin Hill had a quiet afternoon and finished in fourth-place, while Nick Sanchez, winner of the most recent NASCAR Xfinity Series event at EchoPark Speedway, rounded out the top-five. Jesse Love came home in sixth, with Sammy Smith, Sam Mayer, Austin Green, and Brennan Poole rounding out the top-10.

Leaving Chicago and heading to another road course at Sonoma Raceway, Justin Allgaier maintains the regular-season points lead (despite a finish of 23rd) by 49 markers over Austin Hill and Sam Mayer who are tied for second-place. Jesse Love and Connor Zilisch round out the top-five in points.

Tomorrow, the NASCAR Cup Series will tackle the same racetrack with Shane Van Gisbergen looking to complete a weekend sweep. Driving the No. 88 WeatherTech Chevrolet for Trackhouse Racing, the New Zealander will start from the pole.

Next up for the NASCAR Xfinity Series is Sonoma Raceway, with broadcast coverage of the Pit Boss / FoodMaxx 250 will take place on Saturday, July 12 at 4:30pm ET on The CW, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90).

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