2025 Mission 200 at The Glen
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| Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 23 of 33 of the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series | |||
 | |||
| Date | August 9, 2025 | ||
| Official name | 30th Annual Mission 200 at The Glen | ||
| Location | Watkins Glen International, Watkins Glen, New York | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 2.454 miles (3.949 km) | ||
| Distance | 82 laps, 201 mi (323 km) | ||
| Scheduled distance | 82 laps, 201 mi (323 km) | ||
| Average speed | 82.102 mph (132.130 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | JR Motorsports | ||
| Time | 1:10.884 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Connor Zilisch | JR Motorsports | |
| Laps | 60 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 88 | Connor Zilisch | JR Motorsports | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | The CW | ||
| Announcers | Adam Alexander and Jamie McMurray | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | MRN | ||
The 2025 Mission 200 at The Glen was the 23rd stock car race of the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series, and the 30th iteration of the event. The race was held on Saturday, August 9, 2025, in Watkins Glen, New York at Watkins Glen International, a 2.454 miles (3.949 km) permanent road course. The race took the scheduled 82 laps to complete.
After a wild final stage and a long red flag delay, Connor Zilisch, driving for JR Motorsports, would continue his road course dominance, winning the second stage and led a race-high 60 laps to earn his seventh career NASCAR Xfinity Series win, and his sixth of the season.[10] To fill out the podium, Sam Mayer, driving for Haas Factory Team, and Sammy Smith, driving for JR Motorsports, would finish 2nd and 3rd, respectively.
The race was marred by a vicious multi-car incident on lap 73. Coming out of the outer loop and into the short chute, Michael McDowell and Austin Hill made contact while battling for the lead. Hill tapped the left rear quarter-panel of McDowell's car, sending McDowell into the outside wall head-on, sustaining heavy damage. William Sawalich and Taylor Gray, who was running 6th and 7th at the time, were the first drivers to be collected in the pileup. Multiple drivers in the back of the field began piling in, including Ryan Ellis, who plowed into his teammate Josh Bilicki while trying to slow down. All drivers were evaluated and released from the infield care center shortly after the incident.[11]
Following the race, Zilisch was taken to a local hospital after a scary fall in victory lane. After climbing out of his car for celebrations, he lost balance after getting his left leg stuck between the driver's side window netting, falling awkwardly and hitting his head on the pavement. Although CT scans showed no head injuries, he suffered a broken collarbone.[12] As a result, Trackhouse Racing withdrew the No. 87 entry that Zilisch was scheduled to run in the Cup Series race the next day.[13]
Background
Watkins Glen International (nicknamed "The Glen") is an automobile race track located in Watkins Glen, New York at the southern tip of Seneca Lake. It was long known around the world as the home of the Formula One United States Grand Prix, which it hosted for twenty consecutive years (1961–1980), but the site has been home to road racing of nearly every class, including the World Sportscar Championship, Trans-Am, Can-Am, NASCAR Cup Series, the International Motor Sports Association and the IndyCar Series.
Initially, public roads in the village were used for the race course. In 1956 a permanent circuit for the race was built. In 1968 the race was extended to six hours, becoming the 6 Hours of Watkins Glen. The circuit's current layout has more or less been the same since 1971, although a chicane was installed at the uphill Esses in 1975 to slow cars through these corners, where there was a fatality during practice at the 1973 United States Grand Prix. The chicane was removed in 1985, but another chicane called the "Inner Loop" was installed in 1992 after J.D. McDuffie's fatal accident during the previous year's NASCAR Winston Cup event.
The circuit is known as the Mecca of North American road racing and is a very popular venue among fans and drivers. The facility is currently owned by International Speedway Corporation.
Entry list
- (R) denotes rookie driver.
- (i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.
Practice
The first and only practice session was held on Saturday, August 9, at 9:30 AM EST, and would last for 50 minutes.[14] Connor Zilisch, driving for JR Motorsports, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 1:11.001, and a speed of 124.224 mph (199.919 km/h).[15]
| Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Time | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 88 | Connor Zilisch (R) | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 1:11.001 | 124.224 |
| 2 | 8 | Sammy Smith | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 1:11.717 | 122.983 |
| 3 | 2 | Jesse Love | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 1:12.040 | 122.432 |
| Full practice results | ||||||
Qualifying
Qualifying was held on Saturday, August 9, at 10:35 AM EST. Since Watkins Glen International is a road course, the qualifying procedure used is a two-group system, with one round. Drivers will be separated into two groups, A and B. Each driver will have multiple laps to set a time. Whoever sets the fastest time between both groups will win the pole.[14]
Under a 2021 rule change, the timing line in road course qualifying is "not" the start-finish line. Instead, the timing line for qualifying will be set at the exit of Turn 9. Connor Zilisch, driving for JR Motorsports, would score the pole for the race, with a lap of 1:10.884, and a speed of 124.429 mph (200.249 km/h).[16]
No drivers would fail to qualify.
