It would be difficult to imagine a performance more dominant than the one JR Motorsports driver Connor Zilisch has fashioned over the last nine races since returning from a back injury he sustained at Talladega.
In that span, Zilisch won four races, including the last three in a row. He also finished second three times, along with two more top-five finishes, to post an average finish of 2.1 since Charlotte.
RELATED: Xfinity Series schedule | Xfinity Series standings
With his win last Saturday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, he notched the 100th victory for JR Motorsports. At 19 years, 4 days, he‘s now the youngest driver to win three straight races in Xfinity Series history and to reach six career victories in the series, dethroning Joey Logano.
All six of Zilisch‘s Xfinity wins have come in his series debuts at the respective tracks, a streak he‘ll attempt to maintain in Saturday‘s HyVee Perks 250 at Iowa Speedway (4:30 p.m. ET, The CW, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Only two drivers in series history have won four straight races: Sam Ard in 1983 and Noah Gragson in 2022.
Though Zilisch has never raced an Xfinity Series car at Iowa Speedway, two facts argue in his favor: he won last year‘s ARCA Menards Series race at the 0.875-mile short track, and Sam Mayer won last year‘s race with Zilisch‘s current crew chief, Mardy Lindley, calling the shots from Mayer‘s pit box.
“I was fortunate enough to win the ARCA race at Iowa last year, so I‘m looking forward to using what I learned in that race with a new challenge in the Xfinity car,” Zilisch said. “My crew chief, Mardy Lindley, won the race there with Sam Mayer last year, so I know we‘ll have a really good KOA Chevrolet when we get to the track this weekend.
“We‘ve been on a roll lately with top-five finishes and trips to Victory Lane, so I‘m ready to get to the track and continue that.”
The HyVee Perks 250 is the third of five short-track races on the Xfinity Series schedule this year, but neither of the winners of the first two such races will compete on Saturday.
NASCAR suspended Martinsville winner Austin Hill for one race for intentionally wrecking Aric Almirola last Saturday at Indianapolis, and Bristol winner Kyle Larson is not doing double duty this weekend.
Full-time Cup Series driver Austin Dillon will take Hill‘s place in the No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet at Iowa.
With five races left in the Xfinity Series regular season, there are five berths left in the playoffs. Cousins Jeb Burton and Harrison Burton are on opposite sides of the eligibility bubble, with Jeb Burton holding a 10-point edge for the final spot in the playoffs.
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