Despite everything he’s done — the trophies, the highlights, the swagger that’s turned him into one of NASCAR’s most talked-about young guns — there’s still one stubborn little box that Connor Zilisch hasn’t checked: winning on a 1.5-mile track.
It’s not for lack of effort. The 19-year-old phenom from JR Motorsports has been throwing everything but the steering wheel at these intermediate ovals all year. And on Saturday night under the lights of Las Vegas Motor Speedway, he came heartbreakingly close yet again.
But this time, the spotlight belonged elsewhere. Aric Almirola, the 41-year-old part-time racer who’s supposed to be easing into semi-retirement, instead looked like a man who’d found the fountain of youth at 184 miles per hour. He didn’t just win the NASCAR Xfinity Series Focused Health 302 — he dominated it, sweeping both stages, leading the most laps, and capping it all off with his third win of 2025.
Still, Zilisch made sure it wasn’t a runaway. With 20 laps to go, he muscled his No. 88 Chevy to the front, slipping past Jesse Love like a pickpocket in rush-hour traffic. For a moment, it looked like that elusive first 1.5-mile win was finally his. But with eight laps remaining, Almirola came thundering back, reclaiming the lead and never looking back, winning by just 0.696 seconds — a blink, a breath, a single missed shift away from another Zilisch highlight reel moment.
“Yeah, I mean, I gave him my all,” Zilisch said, forcing a smile that looked like it had been through a few emotional pit stops. “I drove as hard as I could, but I guess that’s what we had today…I just got do a better job. I just could not wrap the line I sucked here in the spring for the same reason.”
You could almost hear the frustration beneath the calm. For all his talent — and make no mistake, the kid’s got loads of it — Vegas, and other 1.5 milers, continue to deal him the wrong cards.
Meanwhile, Almirola looked every bit the veteran who knows how to play the long game. “Our car was really good,” he said. “But the longer I ran, the tighter I got and I was just struggling on that long run in the beginning of stage three, and finally, on that restart there I just took off incredibly tight, and I couldn’t get going.
“The 48 kind of slowed my momentum down. And finally, I got clear with him and was able to go chase the 88 down. He looked pretty loose and I was able to capitalize on it.”
Justin Allgaier crossed the line in third, followed by Corey Day — who quietly delivered the best finish of his young Xfinity career in fourth — and Nick Sanchez in fifth. Sanchez’s result was particularly impressive considering he served a speeding penalty early and later found himself unintentionally slowing Almirola’s charge late in the race.
For Almirola, this whole part-time thing seems to be working out rather well. Since stepping away from full-time Cup duty, he’s managed six Xfinity victories — and looks happier than ever.
“I’m having so much fun,” he said, grinning like a man who’s discovered a cheat code to aging. “This is the time of my life man.”
Zilisch, meanwhile, walks away from Vegas without that elusive mile-and-a-halfer checked off, but with an Everest-sized 82-point cushion in the standings — a lead so large he could practically run the next race in reverse and still make the cut.
“Yeah, plus 82 is not bad,” Zilisch said. “It could be a lot worse, but having another win sticker on this thing definitely would have been better.”
He may not have won in Vegas, but when it comes to the bigger picture, Zilisch is still holding all the cards.
Greg was a writer for DriveTribe supporting Amazon's The Grand Tour and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, and a Masters degree in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek and a regular contributor to Forbes.
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