Gifts for NASCAR Fans
The NASCAR’s weekend in Thunder Valley powered on tonight as we geared up for a classic: the Food City 300 under the lights on a Friday night. Tonight, the stars of tomorrow took to the historic Bristol Motor Speedway in the first race of the Round of 12 in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs. As of late, the star of the show has been Connor Zilisch as he has won the last four races in a row. He was, however, facing some stark competition tonight, namely from his teammate Justin Allgaier. Allgaier has been strong at BMS in years past, even winning this race in 2023. Was he able to continue his BMS dominance or did the youngster of Zilisch dethrone him as the Concrete King?
Another thing to watch tonight was on the other end of the spectrum. While Zilisch and Allgaier topped the Xfinity Series Playoff grid, the real race was around the cutline. Drivers such as Austin Hill, Harrison Burton, Sheldon Creed, and Carson Kvapil entered tonight’s race below the cutline. Meanwhile, drivers like Taylor Gray, Sammy Smith, Brandon Jones, and Nick Sanchez entered tonight’s race in position to advance, but only by a few points. No one was safe heading into tonight. Who was able to capitalize.
Let’s break all of that down and more. After all, It’s Bristol, Baby! Here’s everything that happened in the Food City 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway!
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During a caution in the final stage, Justin Allgaier made the bold strategy call to pit while the other leaders stayed out on the track. The hope was that he’d have a tire advantage if the run at the end of the race went long. However, he got mired back in traffic, restarting in the 15th position. When the race restarted, he managed to scratch and claw is way by up to the 10th position by the 40 laps to go mark.
Connor Zilisch comfortably took the lead in this final stage as Sam Mayer started to fade. However, as the run went long, Aric Almirola started to creep into the picture. The No. 19 was right on his bumper when the caution flew as the No. 07 car went around. That was with 38 laps to go. During the caution, a number of leaders came down pit road for fresh tires, including Zilisch. But Almirola and Mayer faked them out and stayed out on the track with Allgaier. Almirola became the new race leader.
The race restarted with the No. 19 out front. A total of eight cars stayed out, and immediately, Connor Zilisch and the other cars that pitted aggressively started to race their way through the field, pressing the issue. This resulted in a lot of squirrely moments. One of such moments resulted in Playoff drivers Sheldon Creed and Taylor Gray getting together. Gray spun around but didn’t hit anything. The caution flag flew. While all of that was going on, Jesse Love was well off the pace. His issue ended up being a flat right tire. The caution was very timely for the No. 2 RCR team.
The race restarted with 18 laps to go. Aric Almirola was able to clear the 1 and 41 for the race lead. Meanwhile, charging from the bottom half of the top 10 were Sheldon Creed and Connor Zilisch on fresher tires. Out front, while the 19 led, Sam Mayer managed to get to his back bumper and challenge for the race lead. The two raced aggressively against one another but somehow managed to keep it clean. With 10 to go, Almirola led but Mayer was right there on his bumper.
By the time that the field took 5 to go, Almirola was able to stretch out his lead on Mayer a little bit. Mayer’s teammate, Sheldon Creed, was now in the picture. While the No. 00 was able to clear his teammate from second, it was too little, too late for him to overtake Almirola. Despite driving it down deep, he wasn’t able to slide up in front of the No. 19 car. Tonight, Aric Almirola played playoff spoiler and won at Bristol. The race marked the 15th career runner-up finish for Sheldon Creed. He has yet to score that illusive first win.
Justin Allgaier started tonight’s race from the pole with regular season champion, Connor Zilisch, rolling off in the 4th position. The defending champ, Allgaier, navigated the first caution of the night as Kyle Sieg turned around. There was limited damage. The race restarted and Allgaier continued to lead. Zilisch filed in behind his teammate, crowding Allgaier’s rearview mirror. During a caution that saw Corey Day go around, Allgaier led the leaders down pit road for the first set of pit stops of the night. A number of other drivers stayed out to earn a few extra stage points. Harrison Burton, who was running 9th prior to the caution, inherited the lead.
While all of that was going on, Playoff driver and JRM teammate to Allgaier and Zilisch, Sammy Smith, radioed his team reporting a loss of power. Smith drove his No. 8 Pilot Chevy behind the wall where it was confirmed that his engine had expired. He was done for the night. During pit stops, Playoff driver Sheldon Creed was caught speeding down pit road. He restarted just before the end of the opening stage in the back, earning no stage points.
There were two laps to go in Stage 1 when the race restarted. Burton and Love, on older tires, tried to hold off Allgaier and Zilisch. But the No. 7 and 88 couldn’t be denied. Allgaier went on to continue his dominance at BMS by capturing his 11th stage win of 2025. Zilisch crossed the line not far behind in 2nd.
*Playoff drivers depicted in BOLD.
For most of the stage, the top 3 of Allgaier, Zilisch, and Mayer ran under a blanket. The green flag dropped, and Sam Mayer leapt out to the lead. Right behind him for the entirety of the stage were JRM teammates Justin Allgaier and Connor Zilisch. As Mayer caught lapped traffic, Zilisch, who had overtaken Allgaier for 2nd, started to make a run for the lead. On the last lap, the No. 88 prevailed, just barely edging out Mayer at the line for the stage win. This assured that JR Motorsports swept the Bristol stages.
There were no major issues for Playoff drivers in this stage. This was good, considering how many of them just needed a good, clean run.
*Playoff drivers depicted in BOLD.
The following are the unofficial results following the conclusion of the 300-lap Xfinity Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway. This list will be updated once tech inspection is completed and the results become official.
* Playoff drivers depicted in BOLD.
Due to Aric Almirola’s win tonight, no driver clinched their berth into the next round. The following drivers are currently above the cutline. Some are in better points situations than others. Check it out.
These drivers had a rough night at the Last Great Coliseum. Heading into Kansas, they’re on the outside looking in.
That does it for the Food City 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway! What did you think of this race, Daily Downforce readers? How’d your favorite drivers do? Is your Playoff bracket still intact or is it busted up? Do you think Connor Zilisch will return to his dominant ways in two weeks at Kansas? Let us know what you’re thinking!
And be sure to tune back in here at DailyDownforce.com tomorrow for our coverage of the Bass Pro Shops Bristol Night Race from Thunder Valley!
