Groovy Hollow Recap
It has all come down to this. After 32 weeks, it is time to crown the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series Champion. It has been a great year with a lot of history made and a lot of drivers proving that they’re ready to take that next step up the NASCAR development ladder. We’ve gone from 12 championship hopefuls down to 8, and now, we’ve all that down to only four. Four to win it all and put that exclamation point at the end of a great year. Our four contenders are: Regular Season Champion, Connor Zilisch (entering with 11 wins on the year), Defending Champion, Justin Allgaier, their JRM underdog teammate, Carson Kvapil (still looking for that first win), and sophomore driver, Jesse Love. In a winner-take-all battle, who came out on top?
Additionally, we have a number of drivers looking to spoil and win the race for themselves, just to end the year on a positive note. One of those drivers, Taylor Gray, is looking to go two in a row after scoring his first win last week at Martinsville. He started from the outside pole. So, who came out on top? Let’s break it down. Here’s everything that happened in the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship Finale at Phoenix.
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The initial stage fired off without much issue. The fastest drivers in Phoenix, the JGR duo of Taylor Gray and Brandon Jones, swapped the lead early on. Eventually, Gray won that exchange and marched straight to the stage victory. It was clear that he had the best car, at least in the early stages of the race. As the run went on, Brandon Jones faded, dropping all the way back to 10th.
As for the Championship 4 drivers, Justin Allgaier and Connor Zilisch battled hard, with Allgaier eventually ending the stage in the championship position. The worst qualifying of the four, their JRM teammate, Carson Kvapil, worked his way up to the 6th position. He had the number 1 pit box based on his performance last week at Martinsville. That might prove to be very valuable for the No. 1 team when it comes to a potential late-race restart.
Three of the four Championship 4 drivers finished in the top 10 in this stage, all three of them being the JRM trio of Justin Allgaier (3rd), Connor Zilisch (4th), and Carson Kvapil (6th). Jesse Love, who started up front, faded in the later stages of the run. He wound up in the 12th position at stage end.
After the conclusion of the stage, all drivers came down pit road for service under caution. Taylor Gray won the race off pit road, but Connor Zilisch leapfrogged ahead of his JRM rivals to earn the top spot in the Championship battle.
*x indicates Championship 4 Driver
**x indicates Championship Leader
Stage 2 was clean and fast, much like stage 1. Justin Allgaier made it to the front in a hurry. Right behind him was his JRM teammate and title foe, Connor Zilisch. There were no incidents of note in this stage. All four drivers went on to finish in the top 10 in this stage. Justin Allgaier won the stage, his fifteenth of the year. Zilisch finished 2nd. Jesse Love bounced back for a 5th-place finish in the stage. And Carson Kvapil finished in the 9th position.
Taylor Gray, who dominated the opening stage came in 6th. This indicated that once track position was lost, it was extremely hard to get back to the front. Something to watch with our Championship 4 competitors as we gear up for the final stage.
During the stage break, a host of drivers came down pit road. Jesse Love made a big move to win the race off pit road and slot into the championship position. Connor Zilisch was upset and wanted some adjustments on his No. 88 Chevy. He lost five spots on pit road, falling down to 6th.
*x indicates Championship 4 Driver
**x indicates Championship Leader
With a massive play on pit road, Jesse Love officially put himself in position to be a serious contender for the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship. However, Justin Allgaier was able to get by him early in the final stage. Still, Jesse Love remained in the mix. We got our first major incident of the race when Ryan Sieg plowed hard into the outside wall, demolishing his No. 41 Haas Factory Team Ford. Sieg was filling in for Sam Mayer who was suspended by NASCAR for his antics both on-track and in a post-race interview following last week’s race at Martinsville. Check it out.
With this caution, the field came down pit road for some fresh Goodyear rubber. Jesse Love again won the race off pit road with Connor Zilisch in second. Allgaier fell down to 4th. The race restarted and Love took a more conservative approach. This put Connor Zilisch out in the lead. Meanwhile, Allgaier was stagnant back in 4th after a hiccup of a pit stop.
Connor Zilisch took the lead early on. However, Zilisch, who dominated the season, just didn’t have the car today to win the championship. However, Jesse Love was able to run down Zilisch and not only pass him for the lead but also pull away from the No. 88 for over a 1 second lead. Fading, Zilisch, trying to find that little bit of extra speed that he just didn’t have, fell back to 3rd as Aric Almirola passed him. Allgaier fell down to 5th, Brandon Jones getting by him.
In a massive upset, the “blue collar team” prevailed today. Jesse Love went on to win the race and win the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship.
*x indicates Championship 4 Driver
**x indicates 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series Champion
It was an up and down night for Jesse as, in the first stage, he was the worst of the Championship 4. Where the No. 2 Wheelen RCR team was on, though, was on pit road. They set the record for the the fastest four tire pit stop this year. Ultimately, that was what won it for him. He didn’t have the flashiest night or season. In the regular season, he had only 1 win, that win coming in the season-opening race at Daytona. Connor Zilisch had a stellar 11-win season. Even Allgaier had a great year. But, by race’s end, it was Jesse Love who was standing tall with the NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship trophy.
Jesse Love will return to RCR next year to drive the No. 2 Wheelen Chevrolet. He will be looking to defend his title.
While his best friend, Jesse Love, was standing tall on the NASCAR Championship Stage, the regular season and reserve champion, Connor Zilisch, was left wondering what might have been. Zilisch had a great year, a historic year. After a back injury took him out of the ride for a couple of weeks, he returned by winning 10 races (a total of 11 on the year) and finishing in the top 10 for a record of 18 races. It’s a shame he didn’t win it. He was clearly disappointed when he exited the car. But that’s the way the format was. There was really nothing he could do for being off one race.
Connor Zilisch, after a dominating year, will graduate from the NASCAR Xfinity Series and, in 2026, will be running full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series. He will be driving a Trackhouse car, taking the place of Daniel Suarez. It isn’t yet known what the car number will be. Additionally, he’ll be back in 2026 with JRM to run select race in the newly named NASCAR O’Riley Auto Parts Series.
The defending series champion, Justin Allgaier, fell just a little short tonight in successfully defending his title. Allgaier dominated the second stage of the race and looked like the favorite to win. However, a slow pit stop late and a bad set of tires lost him the track position he needed and gave it to Jesse Love. He never recovered. Fading late, Justin Allgaier fell down to the 5th position, where he finished.
Allgaier is returning to JRM next year to drive the Brandt No. 7 Chevy. He is losing his crew chief, however, to Kyle Busch in the NASCAR Cup Series. So, there’ll be a new voice in his ear next year.
Carson Kvapil was perhaps the biggest underdog heading into this race. Unlike his fellow rookie, Connor Zilisch, Kvapil went winless this year and even lost his full-time ride at JRM. Tonight, he was racing for more than just a championship: he was racing for a job. Unfortunately, despite some flashes early in the race, Carson was consistently the fourth fastest Championship 4 car. He walked out with a 12th-place finish to end the year.
In 2026, we’re not sure what’s to come for Carson Kvapil. It was announced earlier in the fall that Kvapil will be scaling back to part-time, splitting the No. 1 with Connor Zilisch. He is trying to secure funding to run the entire year. We’ll know more about whether or not that comes to fruition as we gear up for Daytona in February.
What did you think of this race? Did you pick Jesse Love to win it all? What do you think about Zilisch losing the title after such a great season? What kind of title format do you want to see? Let us know! Join the discussion on Discord or X, and remember to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube for more updates. Be sure to tune back in here tomorrow at DailyDownforce.com for our weekly Xfinity Series coverage!
