The NASCAR Xfinity Series field threw everything it could at Connor Zilisch, but he could not be denied in his breakthrough win at Watkins Glen International.
The Mission 200 was originally scheduled for 82 laps around WGI. It ended up stretching into 90 laps thanks to a lengthy red flag late in the race that spawned two overtime attempts.
Zilisch was the class of the field for much of the day, but he and several leaders cut it extremely close on fuel. They all had just enough to survive a chaotic second overtime attempt that saw several cars all throughout the field crash.
Sheldon Creed managed to finish second, and A.J. Allmendinger was third. Chandler Smith ended up fourth and Shane van Gisbergen rounded out the top 5 in fifth.
The Winners
Another NXS race, another second-place finish for Creed.
This time, however, he could only be so mad. Creed emerged as the winner in a fanatic five-car duel for second place on the last restart, coming out with it in a daring three-wide pass.
Then there were a pair of Cup drivers with small teams in the last race Cup drivers can compete in this year. Joey Logano almost matched his eighth place at Chicago in July with a ninth place at WGI. Both results are the only top-10 finishes AM Racing has been able to accomplish this season.
Ross Chastain has been helping out DGM Racing in the second half of the regular season, piloting the No. 92 to some fair results. Although Chastain is now a big, successful Cup driver, he has paid his dues racing for a number of smaller teams throughout his career. DGM is just the latest.
Chastain was able to bring the No. 92 home in sixth, the second top 10 he’s been able to grant this season after finishing ninth at Iowa. His 12th place at Darlington is also a better mark than any other driver has achieved in that car this season.
The Losers
The biggest loser today was probably NASCAR. An engine failure for Matt DiBenedetto with six laps to go delayed the finish by almost a full hour between three crazy restarts and a very lengthy red flag.
That red flag came out after the first overtime. It was very frustrating watching all of this and not only having the leader win the race anyway, but all of the torn up racecars just because entertainment.
NASCAR really, really needs to take a look at itself in the mirror and decide if it is a sport or if it is a reality television…
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