DOVER, Del. — When Erik Jones and Connor Zilisch woke up on All-Star Sunday, neither were guaranteed a spot into the main event. As it turned out, both secured personal bests in 2026.
Saturday marked a tale of different tapes for Jones and Zilisch. Through the three-lap qualifying session, which included a four-tire pit stop, Jones lined up third for the opening segment of the All-Star Race. Zilisch looped the No. 88 Chevrolet around entering pit road during his qualifying effort, rolling off 27th for the green flag.
In an attrition-filled opening stint, highlighted by a pair of nine-car melees, Zilisch jumped to 11th position. The No. 43 Toyota, meanwhile, faded to 15th, both in a good position to make the All-Star Racebased on cumulative positions between the first two segments.
As the second segment progressed, both drivers climbed the leaderboard, with Zilisch scored fifth and Jones right behind in sixth. That’s when the pair knew they were in the mix, advancing to the All-Star Race, having the fourth (Zilisch) and seventh- (Jones) best cumulative finishes among all drivers in the field.
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“I knew we had to get inside the top 26 and try to give ourselves in the invert and we were able to drive up to 11th in that first stage and continue to move forward in Stage 2,” Zilisch noted. “That’s when I really started to realize we had a shot. It was cool to be on offense for once, have good restarts and not feel like a fish out of water.”
During a long 75-lap run to begin the final segment, Zilisch passed Tyler Reddick for the runner-up spot coming to the planned caution. Jones wasn’t far behind, sliding into fourth position ahead of a fading Chase Briscoe.
The No. 88 team was assessed a pit-road penalty for interference on the pit stop, however, dropping Zilisch to the rear of the field. Over the final 125 laps, he rallied to fifth position. Jones was two spots better in third, best in class behind Joe Gibbs Racing‘s Denny Hamlin and Briscoe.
“It’s about putting it all together and that starts with qualifying,” Jones stated. “I think just having practice — a real practice — and making changes and a good hour-and-a-half to run through stuff and figure things out. Obviously qualifying up front made our day a lot better. We got a good starting spot for the final run. We haven’t run great here in the last handful of years, so All-Star Race or not, just glad to run well.”
Zilisch is accustomed to running up front at Dover, entering the weekend undefeated in O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and ARCA Menards Series competition at the “Monster Mile.” Dover marked the first oval race of his rookie campaign where he was able to battle with the contending cars at the front of the pack.
Despite being an exhibition event, both drivers had a pep in their step leaving the “First State.”
“It was a really good day for Trackhouse and this 88 team,” Zilisch added. “We needed a day like this where we had contending speed. It’s been a long year and moments of hope like this certainly feel good.
“It would definitely hurt if it was another day where we had speed and didn’t get a result. Although it’s not a points race, I feel like everybody shows up to these races trying to win and be competitive and run inside the top five. Running with the Gibbs cars and getting as high as second, that’s stuff we need.”
Jones hadn’t finished inside the top five in any event since last year’s Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway in early September. He had a single top five in 12 prior Dover attempts, placing fourth in October 2018.
“Any momentum is good,” Jones said with a laugh. “You say it’s an exhibition and whatever, but if you can run well, it makes you feel good and makes you look forward to Nashville coming up. We have this package again that we can take and learn.”
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With the regular season resuming in next Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway (6 p.m. ET, Prime Video, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), Jones is 25th in the standings and Zilisch sits 32nd.