Posted on by Brandon White

WINCHESTER, New Hampshire – After a series record eight different to open the year, Sunday’s Cheshire County Clash 200 at Monadnock Speedway yielded the first repeat winner of the 2025 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season.

Ron Silk would be the one to snap the streak, earning his first Monadnock victory with the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour in the process. The triumph did not come without drama for Silk, who collided with race leader Patrick Emerling in Turn 3 with 30 laps remaining, sending the latter for a spin.

RELATED: Complete results from the Cheshire County Clash 200

Silk attributed the collision to two drivers going for the win. Although he was disappointed to see Emerling spin after the contact, Silk was more than satisfied to finally visit Victory Lane at Monadnock in his 15th appearance.

“We were racing pretty hard,” Silk said. “I pulled out on the exit of Turn 2 and he didn’t give me a lot of room, but I don’t blame him. I feel like we both kind of got loose in and made some contact. I wish he could have held onto it, but that’s hard racing.”

Prior to the doubleheader, Silk had enjoyed modest success at Monadnock but never managed to bring home a checkered flag. His Monadnock resume featured seven top five finishes, including two runner-up showings in 2020 and 2024.

A disappointing 15th in Saturday’s Duel at the Dog 200 fueled Silk’s motivation to rebound. Silk posted the fifth-best time in qualifying but started on pole by virtue of the redraw.

While Silk successfully maintained his track position at the front of the field, he faced constant pressure from Emerling, who was also eager to shake off a frustrating Saturday outcome that saw him lose a win to Tommy Catalano by .007 seconds. Emerling go to the lead during the closing stages, but Silk stayed within striking distance, waiting for the right moment to pounce.

Silk saw his opportunity with less than 40 laps left. He dove to the inside of Emerling in search of an open lane in Turn 3. The move sent Emerling around while Silk continued unscathed.

Being on the receiving end of contact to close out two consecutive races at Monadnock was irritating for Emerling. He was confused and frustrated by Silk’s dive bomb in Turn 3, especially after he believed the two had raced cordially earlier in the day.

“It’s really unfortunate,” Emerling said. “[Silk and I raced] like gentlemen and I passed him without touching him. He had a fresh tire on, we were better on the long run and he knew that. He was just good enough to maybe get to our bumper. He knew he wasn’t going to stay there long and that we would drive away.

“Then he decided to ship it into the corner like he wasn’t going to make it and just took us out.”

With Emerling out of contention, Silk still had to deal with two familiar foes in his rearview mirror, Justin Bonsignore and Matt Hirschman. Neither posed a significant challenge to Silk in the final 20 laps as he drove away to earn his second win of 2025.

Matt Hirschman
Matt Hirschman celebrates after claiming the Whelen Short Track Cup for the second time during the Cheshire County Clash 200 for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour at Monadnock Speedway in Winchester, New Hampshire on July 20, 2025. (Photo: Jaiden Tripi/NASCAR)

Bonsignore held on to finish second while Hirschman secured third, which enabled him to claim his second Whelen Short Track Cup. Hirschman endured an odyssey just to reach the top five, as a mistake in qualifying relegated him to 20th on the starting grid.

By utilizing strategy and persevering with a car not to his liking, Hirschman narrowly edged out his Mud Lane neighbor Austin Beers for the Whelen Short Track Cup and a $3,500 bonus courtesy of JDV Productions.

“I did not think this was possible,” Hirschman said. “I do think we gave it away last night, but we ended up with a third place finish with a car that felt like it was on six or seven cylinders. My guys worked hard, nobody knows what the problem is, but it’s nobody’s fault. The Cup wouldn’t have even been a contest if we finished remotely close to where we should have last night.

“I feel like I drove my rear end off today with what I had.”

Anthony Nocella and Trevor Catalano made up the rest of the top five. Rounding out the top 10 at Monadnock were Joey Cipriano III, Luke Baldwin, Emerling, Beers and Tommy Catalano.

The next stop for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will be a midweek race at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park on Aug. 6. The green flag for the Thompson 150 presented by FloSports.com will wave at 8 p.m. ET, with FloRacing providing live coverage.

Posted on by Staff Report

Cheshire County Clash 200

Monadnock Speedway

  • Race results
Pos. No. Name Sponsor Laps Diff.
1 16 Ron Silk Blue Mountain Machine and Future Homes 200  —
2 51 Justin Bonsignore Phoenix Communications Inc 200 0.655
3 60 Matt Hirschman Elite Towing/Bar Harbor Bank and Trust 200 1.477
4 17 Anthony  Nocella Xtreme Autobody/Sontag Motorsports/Bells Septic 200 2.088
5 56 Trevor Catalano USNE Utility Services/Catalano Motorsports 200 2.749
6 15 Joey Cipriano III Eastern Propane & Oil/ The Bass Planting Company 200 3.517
7 7 Luke Baldwin* Baldwin Automotive 200 3.781
8 1 Patrick Emerling Fleetworks Inc. 200 4.073
9 64 Austin Beers G&G Electric/Lumiere Electrical/AP Marquadt & Sons/Dell Electric/Andrew James Interiors/Hughes Motor 200 4.951
10 54 Tommy Catalano FX Caprara/USNE Utility Services 200 4.963
11 22 Kyle Bonsignore MTT/ChaLew Performance/Munns Auto 200 5.746
12 46 Craig Lutz Riverhead Building Supply 200 6.126
13 25 Brian  Robie Bar Harbor Bank & Trust 200 6.38
14 36 Dave Sapienza Sapienza Enterprises/Eastport Feed 200 10.264
15 5 Kyle Ebersole Ebersole Excavating Inc 199 1 Lap
16 59 Tyler Barry* Pro Systems/BNP Machine/West Swanzey Meats 199 1 Lap
17 29 Mike Marshall* MLM Diagnostics/Jusczak Electric 196 4 Laps
18 06 Sam Rameau New England Truck Design/Quality Fleet Services 126 74 Laps
19 21 Stephen Kopcik* Newtown Pools/Wanick Construction 120 80 Laps
20 20 Max Zachem USNE/Lu-Mac’s 106 94 Laps
21 3 Tyler Rypkema USNE Power/Northeast Drilling 96 104 Laps

 

Posted on by Staff Report

Cheshire County Clash 200

Monadnock Speedway

  • Qualifying results
Pos No. Name Sponsor Best Tm Best Speed In Lap Laps Diff
1 64 Austin Beers G&G Electric/Lumiere Electrical/AP Marquadt & Sons/Dell Electric/Andrew James Interiors/Hughes Motor 11.534 78.03 1 2
2 7 Luke Baldwin* Baldwin Automotive 11.671 77.114 1 2 0.137
3 25 Brian  Robie Bar Harbor Bank & Trust 11.693 76.969 1 1 0.159
4 22 Kyle Bonsignore MTT/ChaLew Performance/Munns Auto 11.702 76.91 1 2 0.168
5 16 Ron Silk Blue Mountain Machine and Future Homes 11.707 76.877 2 2 0.173
6 6 Sam Remeau New Englad Truck Design/Quality Fleet Services 11.714 76.831 1 2 0.18
7 1 Patrick Emerling Fleetworks Inc. 11.728 76.739 1 2 0.194
8 51 Justin Bonsignore Phoenix Communications Inc 11.729 76.733 2 2 0.195
9 17 Anthony  Nocella Xtreme Autobody/Sontag Motorsports/Bells Septic 11.733 76.707 2 2 0.199
10 56 Trevor Catalano USNE Utility Services/Catalano Motorsports 11.743 76.641 1 2 0.209
11 46 Craig Lutz Riverhead Building Supply 11.755 76.563 1 2 0.221
12 21 Stephen Kopcik* Newtown Pools/Wanick Construction 11.792 76.323 1 2 0.258
13 54 Tommy Catalano FX Caprara/USNE Utility Services 11.81 76.207 1 2 0.276
14 15 Joey Cipriano III Eastern Propane & Oil/ The Bass Planting Company 11.818 76.155 2 2 0.284
15 20 Max Zachem USNE/Lu-Mac’s 11.849 75.956 2 2 0.315
16 59 Tyler Barry* Pro Systems/BNP Machine/West Swanzey Meats 11.873 75.802 2 2 0.339
17 3 Tyler Rypkema USNE Power/Northeast Drilling 11.893 75.675 1 2 0.359
18 5 Kyle Ebersole Ebersole Excavating Inc 11.907 75.586 2 2 0.373
19 36 Dave Sapienza Sapienza Enterprises/Eastport Feed 11.941 75.371 1 2 0.407
20 60 Matt Hirschman Elite Towing/Bar Harbor Bank and Trust 12.041 74.745 1 2 0.507
21 29 Mike Marshall* MLM Diagnostics/Jusczak Electric 12.457 72.249 2 2 0.923

 

Posted on by Nick Giffen

There are a lot of unknowns as NASCAR heads to Dover Motor Speedway for today’s Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 (2 p.m. ET, TNT Sports/truTV, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Rain washed away both practice and qualifying, meaning the starting order will be set by NASCAR’s metric used to determine the qualifying order and groups. Without practice, drivers will have completed no laps heading into the race, giving us no practice data to work with.

RELATED: Set your fantasy lineup | Dover starting lineup

That means most of our analysis will have to come from our pre-race assessment, which involves evaluating how drivers perform at the unique 1-mile, steeply banked concrete track.

To build a sample size, we can also pull in comparable tracks. Based on my analysis of driver-by-driver average running position and driver rating data in the Next Gen Era, the comparable tracks are Nashville, Kansas, and Charlotte, with Las Vegas at a lower tier. Every other non-drafting oval can be put into an “overall form” category.

Goodyear is also bringing a brand-new tire to Dover, designed to lay down rubber on the concrete surface, which will be picked up by the tires under yellow conditions. That’ll move the optimal racing line around quite a bit.

Dover has also moved to mid-July from its late-April or early-May date of years past. It’ll be hotter than in previous years, which will make things more slick as well.

All together, it makes me like “wheelmen” a bit more, leaving one clear value left in today’s field on what is a light betting card with so much uncertainty.

Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 Best Bets for Dover

Since qualifying was washed out, Noah Gragson will start nearly shotgun on the field, firing off from 36th out of 37 drivers. That deep starting position lengthened his top-10 odds from 11-1 midweek at FanDuel to 12-1 at present at BetMGM, despite not having turned a lap.

Yes, starting position matters, but over 400 miles and 400 laps, it didn’t change Gragson’s top-10 odds appreciably for me. My model has Gragson at 13.5% to finish 10th or better, which is well above his 7.7% implied odds at 12-1.

Gragson had one of his best races of the year last year at Dover, qualifying fifth and finishing sixth while posting the 10th-best average running position. In addition, Gragson has fared well at similar tracks, finishing 14th at Kansas and 10th at Charlotte, so there is hope for him in this intermediate package to have a run near or at the back half of the top 10.

Since I have him at closer to +650, I love this +1200 price tag. To leave some room for all the uncertainty, I wouldn’t bet this below +900, but that’s still 10% implied odds, leaving us with a 3.5% edge based on my model even at that number.

The Bet: Noah Gragson Top-10 Finish (+1200 at BetMGM) | Bet to: +900

Posted on by Staff Report

Cheshire County Clash 200

Monadnock Speedway

  • Practice results
Pos No. Name Sponsor Best Tm Best Speed In Lap Laps Diff
1 3 Tyler Rypkema USNE Power/Northeast Drilling 11.766 76.492 22 24
2 21 Stephen Kopcik* Newtown Pools/Wanick Construction 11.774 76.44 15 16 0.008
3 5 Kyle Ebersole Ebersole Excavating Inc 11.78 76.401 28 30 0.014
4 54 Tommy Catalano FX Caprara/USNE Utility Services 11.815 76.174 17 19 0.049
5 60 Matt Hirschman Elite Towing/Bar Harbor Bank and Trust 11.845 75.981 10 13 0.079
6 1 Patrick Emerling Fleetworks Inc. 11.863 75.866 26 31 0.097
7 25 Brian  Robie Bar Harbor Bank & Trust 11.866 75.847 6 22 0.1
8 51 Justin Bonsignore Phoenix Communications Inc 11.868 75.834 15 22 0.102
9 64 Austin Beers G&G Electric/Lumiere Electrical/AP Marquadt & Sons/Dell Electric/Andrew James Interiors/Hughes Motor 11.876 75.783 6 13 0.11
10 17 Anthony  Nocella Xtreme Autobody/Sontag Motorsports/Bells Septic 11.891 75.687 21 29 0.125
11 46 Craig Lutz Riverhead Building Supply 11.904 75.605 24 25 0.138
12 22 Kyle Bonsignore MTT/ChaLew Performance/Munns Auto 11.917 75.522 6 8 0.151
13 56 Trevor Catalano USNE Utility Services/Catalano Motorsports 11.948 75.326 18 25 0.182
14 06 Sam Remeau New Englad Truck Design/Quality Fleet Services 11.95 75.314 22 27 0.184
15 7 Luke Baldwin* Baldwin Automotive 12.006 74.963 10 14 0.24
16 15 Joey Cipriano III Eastern Propane & Oil/ The Bass Planting Company 12.006 74.963 21 28 0.24
17 20 Max Zachem USNE/Lu-Mac’s 12.026 74.838 10 19 0.26
18 16 Ron Silk Blue Mountain Machine and Future Homes 12.039 74.757 15 19 0.273
19 8 John-Michael Shenette USNE Power/Eighty-Two Services 12.068 74.577 35 38 0.302
20 59 Tyler Barry* Pro Systems/BNP Machine/West Swanzey Meats 12.09 74.442 24 37 0.324
21 36 Dave Sapienza Sapienza Enterprises/Eastport Feed 12.206 73.734 26 32 0.44
22 18 Ken Heagy Hunter Mechanical 12.354 72.851 12 13 0.588
23 29 Mike Marshall* MLM Diagnostics/Jusczak Electric 12.779 70.428 18 39 1.013

 

Posted on by Staff Report

HAMPTON, Va. — Matt Waltz entered Saturday’s Hampton Heat with redemption on his mind after he was disqualified from a second-place run at Virginia’s South Boston Speedway in the first leg of the 2025 Virginia Late Model Triple Crown.

Mission accomplished — and he couldn’t have picked a better time and place.

Waltz, the 2017 Langley Speedway champion, finally won his home track’s biggest race when he cruised to a convincing victory in a race that was delayed by four hours due to a passing storm. Waltz was the leader at the halfway break when the storm arrived. He never looked back.

“I’ve been trying to win this thing for a long time, so to come out here after so many years and be able to win this thing, it’s awesome,” Waltz said. “So fired up. We had such a good race car today.”

Waltz won on a day that saw him set the best lap in practice. He then started on the front row, and 95 laps into the race, he found himself pushing Atley Wiese for the lead. Waltz made the pass just in time for the halfway break.

He then owned the second half of the race, consistently jumping out to large leads on multiple restarts. Such a gap was important in the closing laps, as a pair of Langley aces in Connor Hall and Brenden “Butterbean” Queen were attempting to run down the leader.

Waltz, though, navigated lapped traffic and managed his tires to perfection, leaving himself plenty of space ahead of his challengers as the checkered flag waved.

“I tried to just keep the tires on it in the first half the best I could and just keep the track position” he said. “I was doing the rain dance at halftime, but it’s all good now.”

Waltz is now locked into the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 at Martinsville Speedway, the third and final leg of the Triple Crown set to run in September. Hall also is locked into the Triple Crown finale thanks to his victory at South Boston.

At Langley, Hall finished second ahead of Queen in third. The latter made his first Late Model Stock Car start of the year and was coming off a victory at Dover Motor Speedway in the ARCA Menards Series the night before.

Woody Howard finished fourth ahead of Kade Brown in fifth.

Carson Loftin, Peyton Sellers, Ronnie Bassett Jr., Trevor Ward and Brandon Pierce finished sixth through 10th, respectively.

Posted on by Brandon White

WINCHESTER, New Hampshire – For Tommy Catalano, watching his brother Trevor earn his first NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour victory at Monadnock Speedway last year was emotional for several reasons.

Trevor’s triumph came in only his eighth NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour appearance. Entering Saturday’s Duel at the Dog 200 at Monadnock Speedway, Tommy had 96 career starts on his resume, none of which had resulted in a win despite several close calls.

RELATED: Complete results from the Duel at the Dog 200

Years of patience and hard work brought a second Catalano to Monandock’s Victory Lane in thrilling fashion.

Tommy was tasked with fending off Patrick Emerling during an overtime restart while on older tires. Emerling briefly took the lead from Tommy, but a nudge to Emerling’s back bumper knocked him out of the groove just enough for Tommy to earn an emotional breakthrough victory by the slimmest of margins – .007 seconds.

“I didn’t really want to get [Emerling] like that into [turn three],” Tommy said. “I was hoping to kind of move him up the hill a little bit. Everyone was kind of tight right there. Justin [Bonsignore] was right on my bumper. It’s unbelievable.

“Hopefully this isn’t the last one.”

After starting 12th, Tommy cycled to the second position after electing to stay on track during a caution with 42 laps remaining that, ironically, involved his brother Trevor.

Tommy lined up second behind Luke Baldwin for the ensuing restart, with Tyler Rypkema providing the two a buffer between Emerling, who led the remaining lead lap cars off pit road. Knowing he needed to move quickly, Tommy dove underneath Baldwin in Turn 1 to take the lead, which also pinned Emerling on the top line.

By the time Emerling worked his way back to second behind Tommy, another caution would trigger an overtime restart. The fastest car at Monadnock all evening would now be lined up to Tommy’s outside for the final two-lap sprint, but even with the odds against him, the seasoned veteran was not ready to surrender the win just yet.

Emerling led at the white flag. Through determination and sheer will, Tommy led at the checkered flag, albeit just barely.

The scene in Victory Lane was nearly identical to last year’s Duel at the Dog 250, with the only difference being the role reversal of the brothers.

As the Catalanos celebrated, Emerling felt a mix of frustration and disappointment with his second-place effort. He was critical of the maneuver Tommy pulled on him to take the victory but does not plan to linger on Saturday’s defeat for long.

“We had the best car today,” Emerling said. “We led basically the whole race and the whole team executed really good. We were doing exactly what we had to do and had the race won in the last corner but got smashed out of the way. That’s not the type of racing that I do, but I guess that’s how it goes.”

If Emerling had edged Tommy at the line, he would have snapped a streak of different winners to open 2025, having previously won at New Smyrna Speedway. Austin Beers’ victory at Lancaster Motorplex last weekend tied the record for seven different winners in seven events that was set in 1999.

Instead, Tommy’s valiant effort during the final laps set a new NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour record; eight winners in the first eight races.

Building up Catalano Motorsports has been a prolonged, methodical effort not only by Tommy, but his mother Amy, his father Dave, his brothers and every member of his team. That elusive first victory finally arrived on Saturday, a day Tommy wasn’t sure would ever materialize.

“It’s just nuts,” Tommy said. “You see all the people that have won so far this year and if you said any of them were going to win their second race [this year], that wouldn’t have surprised me at all. To come here and do what we did is phenomenal.

“You start getting down thinking it’s not meant to be, but you keep plugging away and keep at it.”

Kyle Bonsignore finished third in his 100th NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour start, followed by his cousin Justin Bonsignore and Beers. The rest of the top 10 included Rypkema, Baldwin, Stephen Kopcik, Craig Lutz and Anthony Nocella.

NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour competitors will have less than 24 hours to prepare for their next race, as the Cheshire County Clash 200 at Monadnock Speedway takes place at 3:30 p.m. ET Sunday. FloRacing will carry live coverage of the second part of Monadnock’s doubleheader.

Posted on by Staff Report

Duel at the Dog 200 presented by USNE Power

Monadnock Speedway

  • Race results
Pos. No. Name Sponsor Laps Diff.
1 54 Tommy Catalano FX Caprara 204  —
2 1 Patrick Emerling Fleetworks Inc. 204 0.007
3 22 Kyle Bonsignore MTT/ChaLew Performance/Munns Auto 204 0.168
4 51 Justin Bonsignore Phoenix Communications Inc 204 0.196
5 64 Austin Beers G&G Electric/Lumiere Electrical/AP Marquadt & Sons/Dell Electric/Andrew James Interiors/Hughes Motor 204 0.398
6 3 Tyler Rypkema USNE Power/Northeast Drilling/J&R Pre-Cast 204 0.569
7 7 Luke Baldwin* Baldwin Automotive 204 0.603
8 21 Stephen Kopcik* Newtown Pools/Wanick Construction 204 0.793
9 46 Craig Lutz Riverhead Building Supply 204 0.914
10 17 Anthony  Nocella Keene Towing & Recovery/Copart/Xtreme Autobody/Sontag Motorsports 204 0.978
11 15 Joey Cipriano III Eastern Propane & Oil/ The Bass Planting Company 204 1.174
12 06 Sam Remeau Quality Fleet Services/Powell’s Stone and Gravel 204 1.439
13 56 Trevor Catalano USNE Power & Construction 204 1.548
14 25 Brian  Robie Bar Harbor Bank & Trust 204 1.707
15 16 Ron Silk Blue Mountain Machine and Future Homes 204 1.716
16 20 Max Zachem USNE/Lu-Mac’s 204 3.677
17 60 Matt Hirschman Elite Towing/Bar Harbor Bank and Trust 202 2 Laps
18 5 Kyle Ebersole Ebersole Excavating Inc 201 3 Laps
19 36 Dave Sapienza Sapienza Enterprises/Eastport Feed 201 3 Laps
20 59 Tyler Barry* Pro Systems/BNP Machine/West Swanzey Meats 200 4 Laps
21 81 Nathan Wenzel 1812 Paint & Body 199 5 Laps
22 29 Mike Marshall* MLM Diagnostics/Jusczak Electric 188 16 Laps
23 18 Ken Heagy Hunter Mechanical 168 36 Laps
24 26 Gary McDonald Lakeland Ave Landscape Supply 108 96 Laps
25 8 John-Michael Shenette USNE Power/Eighty-Two Services 54 150 Laps

 

Posted on by Staff Report

Duel at the Dog 200 presented by USNE Power

Monadnock Speedway

  • Qualifying results
Pos No. Name Sponsor Best Tm Best Speed In Lap Laps Diff
1 1 Patrick Emerling Fleetworks Inc. 11.487 78.349 2 2
2 17 Anthony  Nocella Keene Towing & Recovery/Copart/Xtreme Autobody/Sontag Motorsports 11.543 77.969 2 2 0.056
3 64 Austin Beers G&G Electric/Lumiere Electrical/AP Marquadt & Sons/Dell Electric/Andrew James Interiors/Hughes Motor 11.567 77.808 1 2 0.08
4 51 Justin Bonsignore Phoenix Communications Inc 11.584 77.693 2 2 0.097
5 22 Kyle Bonsignore MTT/ChaLew Performance/Munns Auto 11.602 77.573 2 2 0.115
6 25 Brian  Robie Bar Harbor Bank & Trust 11.611 77.513 1 2 0.124
7 7 Luke Baldwin* Baldwin Automotive 11.662 77.174 2 2 0.175
8 56 Trevor Catalano USNE Power & Construction 11.676 77.081 1 2 0.189
9 46 Craig Lutz Riverhead Building Supply 11.676 77.081 2 2 0.189
10 15 Joey Cipriano III Eastern Propane & Oil/ The Bass Planting Company 11.706 76.884 2 2 0.219
11 16 Ron Silk Blue Mountain Machine and Future Homes 11.711 76.851 1 2 0.224
12 54 Tommy Catalano FX Caprara 11.714 76.831 2 2 0.227
13 60 Matt Hirschman Elite Towing/Bar Harbor Bank and Trust 11.783 76.381 1 2 0.296
14 06 Sam Rameau Quality Fleet Services/Powell’s Stone and Gravel 11.808 76.22 2 2 0.321
15 36 Dave Sapienza Sapienza Enterprises/Eastport Feed 11.826 76.104 1 2 0.339
16 21 Stephen Kopcik* Newtown Pools/Wanick Construction 11.846 75.975 2 2 0.359
17 5 Kyle Ebersole Ebersole Excavating Inc 11.849 75.956 1 2 0.362
18 59 Tyler Barry* Pro Systems/BNP Machine/West Swanzey Meats 11.883 75.738 2 2 0.396
19 3 Tyler Rypkema USNE Power/Northeast Drilling/J&R Pre-Cast 11.905 75.598 1 2 0.418
20 20 Max Zachem USNE/Lu-Mac’s 11.909 75.573 2 2 0.422
21 18 Ken Heagy Hunter Mechanical 12.037 74.769 2 2 0.55
22 81 Nathan Wenzel 1812 Paint & Body 12.041 74.745 2 2 0.554
23 8 John-Michael Shenette USNE Midwest Operations/Eighty-Two Services 12.048 74.701 1 2 0.561
24 29 Mike Marshall* MLM Diagnostics/Jusczak Electric 12.522 71.874 2 2 1.035
25 26 Gary McDonald Lakeland Ave Landscape Supply 12.533 71.81 2 2 1.046

 

Posted on by Holly Cain

Lest anyone doubt the all-around natural racing talent of 18-year-old Connor Zilisch, the rookie claimed a series best fourth NASCAR Xfinity Series victory on the season in Saturday’s rain-shortened BetRivers 200 at the one-mile Dover Motor Speedway.

Zilisch led 77 of the race’s 134 laps in his No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet before NASCAR was forced to call the scheduled 200-lap race early because of rain. A pair of Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas, driven by former NASCAR Cup Series veteran Aric Almirola and Xfinity regular Brandon Jones rounded out the top three.

Although he qualified third — three rookies topped the starting grid — Zilisch ran first or second for most of the race, ultimately taking the lead for good on the restart following the Stage 2 break.

MORE: Race results | Best Dover photos

“We’ve been showing it lately,’’ a smiling Zilisch said when he was informed on pit road the race was official and he was the winner. “First of all, I hate that we couldn’t finish the race the right way. Aric [Almirola] was really fast and was going to give me a run for my money. Props to him for making me work for it.

“Still really proud of this JR Motorsports team. … We capitalized on all fronts, had good pit stops both stages and put ourselves in a position to be in the right spot when the rain fell. Very thankful.”

Zilisch’s win total is best in the series. And the North Carolina teenager has been so good this summer that that he’s now on an eight-race top-five streak that includes three wins and three runner-up finishes for an average finish of 2.25. He’s led laps in 15 of the 19 races he’s started this season.

Even before making his full-time NASCAR debut this season, Zilisch was a multi-race winner in the sports car ranks with huge victories in the biggest races on the schedule — last year’s Daytona 24 hour and Sebring 12 hour endurance classics.

Not too surprisingly, he immediately proved himself a road-course ace when given the NASCAR Xfinity Series opportunity, winning from pole position in his first series start at historic Watkins Glen International last September.

He answered that resoundingly this year as a full-time competitor, hoisting trophies at Circuit of the Americas and Sonoma Raceway, a pair of road courses, but also proving his oval-metal, winning at the 2.5-mile Pocono Raceway last month and now adding the one-miler to an increasingly broad resume.

Zilisch’s effort at Dover’s “Monster Mile” moves him into second place in the championship standings — 56 points behind points leader and his JR Motorsports teammate, reigning series champion Justin Allgaier, who finished fourth Saturday.

Zilisch’s best friend, Richard Childress Racing’s Jesse Love was fifth at Dover, followed by Ryan Sieg, polesitter Taylor Gray, Sheldon Creed and rookies William Sawalich and Christian Eckes rounding out the top 10.

“It’s been awesome, and I feel like even when we miss a little bit, we’re still a top-five car, and being able to go the race track and know that in the back of your head has definitely been comforting and confidence inspiring every weekend,’’ Zilisch said. “Gotta keep knocking the door down with wins.”

Jeb Burton, who finished 20th, now holds a seven-point advantage on his cousin Harrison Burton for the 12th and final playoff-eligible position in points.

The Xfinity Series travels to Indianapolis Motor Speedway next Saturday for the Pennzoil 250 (4:30 p.m. ET, The CW, IMS Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

NOTE: Post-race inspection in the Xfinity Series garage was completed without issue, confirming Zilisch as the winner.