Connor Zilisch continues his purple patch with yet another pole position in Xfinity Series 

NASCAR Xfinity Series US Marine Corps 250 – Qualifying - Source: Getty
Connor Zilisch won the pole position in the 2025 Marine Corps 250 at Martinsville Speedway - Source: Getty

Connor Zilisch has secured the pole position for the NASCAR Xfinity Series' Martinsville Speedway race this weekend. The qualifying effort marks another impressive performance following a top-five start in the last four races.

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Driving the No. 88 Chevrolet Camaro for JR Motorsports, Zilisch will start the US Marine Corps 250 in the front row alongside teammate Carson Kvapil. It will be the second time the 18-year-old leads the field to green this year (the first was at Circuit of the Americas).

The Xfinity Series qualifying session on Friday was posted on X (formerly Twitter) by user Michael Fay.

"@ConnorZilisch [Connor Zilisch] took the pole position for @NASCAR_Xfinity tomorrow in @MartinsvilleSwy 📎," the post reads (translated from Spanish by Google).
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Based on the timing sheet, Connor Zilisch clocked his best time of 19.888 seconds around the 0.526-mile track. He was ahead of Carson Kvapil by 0.026 seconds, with JRM teammate and defending series champion Justin Allgaier starting in sixth.

Due to pit road issues, Zilisch wasn't able to convert his strong qualifying efforts into high finishing positions. In the last three races, the North Carolina native finished 16th at Phoenix Raceway (starting fourth), ninth at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (starting third), and 12th at Homestead-Miami Speedway (starting second).

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His best finish so far was at Circuit of the Americas when he took the checkered flag after starting in pole position.

Connor Zilisch won the 250 Focused Health 250 at COTA from pole - Source: Imagn
Connor Zilisch won the 250 Focused Health 250 at COTA from pole - Source: Imagn

The young driver will attempt to convert his pole position into a race win for the second time this year at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday. The 250-lap short track outing will begin at 5:00 p.m. ET on the CW Network.

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"We all got to take accountability and clean it up": Connor Zilisch on pit road mishaps in last four NASCAR Xfinity races

Connor Zilisch addressed the disappointing four-week stretch of encountering pit road issues. The 18-year-old said the No. 88 team should "clean it up" as the off-track incidents robbed him of scoring good points despite starting at the front.

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After receiving a pit road penalty due to pit crew members going over the wall too soon at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the No. 88 Chevrolet Camaro driver stated (via Frontstretch):

"We weren't fantastic but we had a good enough car to inside top five, I think. Frustrated to have four weeks in a row to have something happen on the pit road, which is frustrating, and some of them have been me. We all got to take accountability and clean it up."
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Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s young driver added:

"We had such a good car on a long run that those last two runs in the final stages, we're able to make up a lot of speed and get to the front. After 20, 30 laps into our run, we were really fast. Frustrated we couldn't show a little more but excited for next week." [0:46]
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As of this writing, Zilisch is seventh in the NASCAR Xfinity Series points standings. The rookie driver has amassed one win, one top-5, and two top-10s, earning 164 points (85 points behind the top-seeding driver, Justin Allgaier).

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Edited by Tushhita Barua
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