This weekend, NASCAR returns to the World Center of Racing, Daytona International Speedway, for its summer series at the historic venue. Up first, Friday night under the lights, were the stars of tomorrow of the NASCAR Xfinity Series. There were a lot of things to watch tonight. For starters, due to qualifying being rained out, Connor Zilisch started the race from the pole. With Parker Kligerman waiting in the wings to jump in the car, there was some speculation as to how long the points leader would stay in the No. 88 JRM Chevy. Meanwhile, a number of drivers were still looking for their first career wins. Though it appears that Carson Kvapil has a pretty safe cushion heading into tonight’s race, you know that a win to lock him in would make him sleep easy tonight. Also looking for wins were Sheldon Creed, Harrison Burton and Jeb Burton.
With all of that in mind, who was able to conquer Daytona tonight? Did Mother Nature win out in the end or were the drivers able to see it through to a thrilling finish? Who hurt their playoff chances tonight and who (if anybody) locked themselves in? Let’s break it down. Here’s everything that happened in the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Daytona!
The first half of the final stage went off without major issues. We had a couple of single-car issues, one of which saw Rajah Caruth in the Jordan Anderson No. 32 entry go around. No caution came out for that incident, causing Caruth to lose a couple of laps. Otherwise, the first half of the last stage was relatively clean. However, as the laps wound down, the tension grew. It bubbled over for the first time as the field came to take 11 laps to go. A few cars were involved in a wreck that involved veteran Jeremy Clements and Playoff contender, Taylor Gray. It happened when Gray had a left rear tire go flat. He then collected Clements and another driver as a result. The caution flew, providing only a momentary release before it was time to pull the belts tight once more.
At the choose, leader Ryan Sieg took the outside with Austin Hill and Jesse Love behind him. Meanwhile, Parker Kligerman took the inside with his one-off teammate, Justin Allgaier, behind him. Allgaier gave Kligerman a killer push on the launch. The No. 88 rocketed out front with Ryan Sieg and Austin Hill behind him. Kligerman proceeded to block both lanes. As the tension wound tighter, Ryan Sieg got turned and triggered the first big one of the night. This collected Jeb Burton, Daniel Dye, Matt DiBenedetto, William Sawalich, Josh Williams, and Christian Eckes, among others. Check out the carnage here:
This meant that the race would restart under Overtime conditions. At the choose, Parker took the inside lane with his teammate Justin Allgaier and Jesse Love behind him. Meanwhile, superspeedway ace, Austin Hill, selected the outside with Leland Honeyman Jr. pushing. The No. 70 tried to make a move on Hill, but it didn’t work. This allowed the No. 88 to gain a great lead. Hill got a run but was shuffled back by the JRM drivers of Sammy Smith and Justin Allgaier. Kligerman led at the white flag. Sammy Smith gave Kligerman a great push down the backstretch Once again, Kligerman stretched out his lead. This got Kligerman out far enough that, when they started wrecking behind, nobody could catch him. Parker Kligerman (racing as Connor Zilisch) wins at Daytona!
Rain was a big story heading into tonight’s race. Xfinity Series qualifying was washed out due to rain. And the Daytona Beach area had been plagued by rain showers all day long. With that at the forefront of everybody’s mind, it was a very real possibility that this could be a race to halfway. With that came a lot of jangled nerves.
Mother Nature started to rain on our parade fairly early. Approaching the halfway point of the opening stage, it started to rain. NASCAR kept the cars out on track as long as they could. During this caution, the No. 88 crew pitted and made the driver swap from Zilisch to Kligerman. It looked like the showers would just be passing. However, ultimately, Sam Mayer led the field down pit road for a lengthy delay. Once things restarted, there were only six laps to go. After they took the white flag, Carson Kvapil got squirrelly in turns 3 and 4. This triggered a moderately-sized crash. His teammate, Sammy Smith, went on to win the stage. Meanwhile, the weather continued to be a growing concern for teams.
The race restarted following a good shuffle on pit road during the stage break. The beginning of the second stage was highly contested before things calmed down a little bit as a train formed on the outside line. As the laps wound down, however, we got some awesome three-wide racing all throughout the pack. Like the first stage, the second stage ended under caution following a minor incident. This incident involved Jeb Burton, Aric Almirola, and Sammy Smith, the latter who spun after leading in the earlier laps of the stage.
Justin Allgaier went on to collect his ninth stage win of the season. He was looking to turn his season around tonight in Daytona. And, with the conclusion of this stage and the looming threat of weather, the race was now official in the event that rain set in. With Allgaier’s stage win, it made for a clean JRM sweep.
The following are the unofficial results following the conclusion of the 250-lap race at Richmond Raceway. This list will be updated once tech inspection is completed and the results become official.
These drivers have clinched playoff berths by winning during the 2025 season.
*Note: Austin Hill was granted a Playoff waiver. However, due to his suspension, he was stripped of all playoff points. He will start the postseason as the lowest-ranking seed.
The following drivers are currently in the postseason based on points.
This next crop of drivers are on the outside looking in.
That does it for Friday Night Lights at Daytona! What did you think of tonight’s race? Let us know your thoughts! Join the discussion on Discord or X, and remember to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube for more updates.
And come back here tomorrow! We have word about a lot of announcements coming out of Daytona Beach tomorrow afternoon. And, of course, we have the Cup Series regular season cutoff race!
