Lightning Halts Daytona Xfinity Drills; Zilisch Starting First
Connor Zilisch (David Rosenblum/Nigel Kinrade Photography)
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Though every possible attempt was made to complete Kennametal Pole Qualifying Friday for the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Mother Nature simply didn’t cooperate.
A lightning hold at Daytona Int’l Speedway which delayed the start of time trials by nearly an hour, combined with a second interruption after 15 of the 38 cars had turned a lap, prevented the completion of the full session and forced the lineup to be set per the NASCAR performance metric.
The formula – which factors in 70 percent of a car’s previous race finish and 30 percent of its current owner points ranking – puts six-time season winner Connor Zilisch starting first after his win in the most recent series race at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) Int’l two weeks ago.
However, Zilisch isn’t expected to go the full distance, due to his recent surgery to repair the broken collarbone he sustained in a victory lane fall while celebrating his triumph in New York.
The polesitter will take the green flag so he can get credit for finishing points – and keep himself in the hunt for the regular-season championship – before giving way to relief driver Parker Kligerman.
“I did joke with [the team], I said, ‘I’m starting on the front row; can I just go?’” chuckled Zilisch. “And the response I got was ‘if you can do 30 pull-ups, then you can go,’ and I can’t do that right now [with the collarbone still healing]. So, unfortunately, I will probably be dropping to the back right away, but regardless … I know that our car will be as fast as Xfinity mobile [internet] and we’ve been good in packs [in the draft] at superspeedways and I don’t doubt that will be the case again.
“I wish I could be the one to run the whole race, but the odds of that are looking unlikely, so I’ll most likely watch Parker [Kligerman] go out and do his thing once we make that swap,” Zilisch added. “He’s got some unfinished business at Daytona after the Truck [Series] race earlier this year … so if he wins I’ll just get a grinder and cut the trophy in half for us.”
Sam Mayer joins Zilisch on the front row of the grid, if Zilisch were to elect to drop to the rear prior to the green flag, would become the control car for the initial start in that instance.
Sammy Smith and Austin Hill share the second row, with defending series champion Justin Allgaier lining up fifth alongside Carson Kvapil, giving Chevrolet five of the top six grid spots going into the Wawa 250.
All four fulltime JR Motorsports cars start inside the top six Friday night at the World Center of Racing.
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Brandon Jones is the highest-starting Toyota driver in seventh, followed by Harrison Burton, Christian Eckes, and defending Daytona Xfinity winner Jesse Love, who won at the track in February.
Notables starting deeper in the field include Taylor Gray (14th), Daniel Dye (17th), Cup Series interloper Justin Haley (21st), Ryan Sieg (22nd), Sheldon Creed (27th), and Aric Almirola (29th).
Natalie Decker lines up last in the 38-car field in her first race back since giving birth to her first child.
Broadcast coverage of Friday night’s Wawa 250 powered by Coca-Cola is slated for 7:30 p.m. ET, live on The CW, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.
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