After a solo trip out west for the NASCAR Xfinity Series in Portland last week, the stars of tomorrow headed back (somewhat) east as the series rolled into St. Louis for the annual stop at the Worldwide Technology Raceway. Or, as most fans refer to it, Gateway. While the NASCAR Cup Series is in the middle of the first round of their playoffs, for the Xfinity Series it’s the regular season finale. There were a lot of things to watch tonight. After going on a legendary tear, Connor Zilisch has teammate Just Allgaier in sight as the two throw down for the regular-season title. Meanwhile, cousins Jeb and Harrison Burton battle for the final transfer spot in the NASCAR postseason.
With all of those stories in mind, let’s break everything down. Here’s everything that happened in the 2025 Xfinity Series race at Gateway.
Following the conclusion of the second stage, Justin Allgaier led the field down pit road. Unfortunately for him, he was clocked speeding in pit road’s fourth sector. Therefore, he had to serve a pass-through penalty and restart the race in the back. Meanwhile, his teammate Connor Zilisch was back in the lead. The No. 88 car fired off strong, maintaining the lead and pulling away from Jesse Love and Aric Almirola as the final stage went on. About halfway through the final stage, the question began to arise as to when everyone was going to come down pit road. Fortunately for them but unfortunately for Playoff hopeful, Jeb Burton, the caution came out, splitting the stage in half. This was due to yet another Jordan Anderson Racing car in Jeb Burton blowing a tire and plowing into the wall. With that, his playoff hopes were dead.
When the race restarted, Connor Zilisch checked out while the rest of the field checked up. The outside lane was slow to start, leading to several drivers getting into one another and juking for position. Approaching 30 laps to go, Brennan Poole got together with Harrison Burton, resulting in the No. 25 car going around. Fortunately for him, unlike with his cousin, the No. 25 car didn’t receive any heavy damage and was able to continue his march towards the Playoffs.
The race restarted with yet another stack-up, this one catastrophic for many playoff drivers. It started with Sheldon Creed. As Creen shifted, he lost third gear, leading to a huge loss of momentum. This caused a stack-up and a massive wreck that involved 10 drivers, including Sam Mayer, Justin Allgaier, and Corey Day. Check out the carnage here.
Despite Aric Almirola contesting the lead, Connor Zilisch prevailed coming out of turn 2. Christian Eckes and William Sawalich, who were in post-win positions, got into Almirola and were through the second and third. But Zilisch was pulling away. In the end, no one could deny driver No. 88. Connor Zilisch went on to capture his ninth win of the season as well as the regular season title. His 9 win (and counting) season set a new record for most wins, all-time, for an Xfinity Series rookie.
Until the final two laps, the opening stage of the race was rather uneventful. Connor Zilisch started on the pole continued his hot streak. He led every lap of the first stage en route to the stage win, which tied him with teammate and championship foe Justin Allgaier. Aric Almirola managed to slip into the second position with his teammate, rookie William Sawalich behind him. Allgaier and Sanchez rounded out the top 5.
The stage officially ended under caution as the No. 32 of Jordan Anderson had a tire go down. He plowed hard into the outside wall, triggering the first yellow flag of the night.
While Zilisch dominated the first stage, the second stage belonged to his teammate and regular season title rival, Justin Allgaier. Allgaier captured the lead early and pulled away from Zilisch and Sawalich. However, Aric Almirola ran him down in the closing laps of the stage. With 4 laps remaining in the stage, Almirola was there. He got to the inside of the No. 7 but got loose on the apron. Both washed up the track but Allgaier prevailed, maintaining the race lead.
Allgaier was able to hold off Almirola to win the stage. It was his 10th stage win of the year, snapping his tie with Zilisch for most stage wins of the year. Zilisch came across the line in 3rd with William Sawalich and Jesse Love behind.
He led the most laps and the race. Rookie and Regular Season Champ Connor Zilisch scored the Xfinity Fastest Lap.
The following are the unofficial race results for the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Gateway. This list will be updated once post-race tech inspection is complete and the results are made official.
Tonight, Connor Zilisch, with his ninth win on the year, scored the regular-season championship. This honor comes with 15 additional bonus points heading into the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs.
With the race at Gateway now in the books, the field for the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs is now set! The drivers below are currently above the cutline heading into the Round of 12 opener at Bristol.
*Connor Zilisch’s name is depicted in BOLD because he is the regular season champion.
These drivers enter the Round of 12 at Bristol below the cutline.
Due to being suspended, Austin Hill was stripped of his bonus points and will enter the Round of 12 in the 12th seed.
That does it for Xfinity Series action from Gateway! What did you think of this race, Daily Downforce readers? How about the tear Connor Zilisch is currently on? Do you think he’ll ride his wave of momentum all the way to Phoenix and win the title? Or do you have a sleeper pick flying under the radar? Let us know what you think! And be sure to come back here at DailyDownforce.com tomorrow for our coverage of the second race of the Round of 16 in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs!
