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Kelley Earnhardt has reacted to JR Motorsports drivers Connor Zilisch, Ross Chastain, and others dominating the qualifying for the upcoming Xfinity Series race at the Circuit of The Americas. The Texas facility will mark the season's first National Series battle on a road course, with the previous two races held on superspeedways.
Zilisch, who earned his first NASCAR pole in his debut attempt at the 2024 Truck Series race hosted by COTA, registered his career-first Xfinity Series pole at the same venue, sidelining his teammate Ross Chastain from the top spot.
It's worth mentioning that JR Motorsports drivers have locked much of the top 4 rows. Chastain will begin next to Zilisch, while the defending NXS champion Justin Allgaier will kick off the 156-miler from fourth place. Carson Kvapil qualified fifth while Sam Mayer will start in eighth.
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Witnessing the impressive lineup for the third race weekend, JR Motorsports co-owner Kelley Earnhardt reacted to the breakthrough achievement on Friday. She dropped a one-liner to express her feelings.
"JRM doing BIG things in Texas!" Kelley posted.
Zilisch has claimed one road course victory for JR Motorsports, at the 2023 Watkins Glen race, and would be eyeing to add another to his promising motorsports resume.
Connor Zilisch makes feelings known after claiming a pole at the Circuit of The Americas
Since Connor Zilisch collaborated with Spire Motorsports for a part-time Truck Series campaign last season, his talent in taming stock cars has been evident. The North Carolina native bagged the pole in his debut NASCAR race and capped it with a solid fourth-place finish.
Notably, before pivoting to a full-time seat this season, Zilisch competed in five Truck and four Xfinity races. While the 18-year-old came home with a solitary top 5 in the Truck Series, he bagged three top-5s in the Xfinity Series, with two consecutive -at the Watkins Glen and Kansas Speedway.
However, Zilisch entered COTA's 2.356-mile road course with a backlog of setbacks. After a rough start to the current season, suffering DNFs at both the Daytona International Speedway and the Atlanta Superspeedway, he redeemed himself during the qualifying.
The JRM driver exuded optimism after securing the pole, expressing his thoughts to NASCAR reporter Kim Coon.
“I don't think there's a target on my back. I feel like we're just going to go out there tomorrow and execute our race and do what we know to do. We've got a really fast WeatherTech Chevrolet...looking to make the most of it; hopefully, it'll be a fun battle between the two of us (Zilisch and Chastain),” Connor Zilisch said.
Connor Zilisch will attempt double duty during NASCAR's third race weekend. After locking horns in the Xfinity Series, the #88 JRM driver will pilot Trackhouse Racing's #87 Chevy, aiming to become the youngest Cup Series race winner.
Presently, Joey Logano holds the title. He earned the honors after triumphing in the 2009 New Hampshire race.
