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 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. 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.
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. As a result, Trackhouse Racing withdrew the No. 87 entry that Zilisch was scheduled to run in the Cup Series race the next day.
Report
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.
#DriverTeamMake00Sheldon CreedHaas Factory TeamFord1Carson Kvapil (R)JR MotorsportsChevrolet2Jesse LoveRichard Childress RacingChevrolet4Parker RetzlaffAlpha Prime RacingChevrolet07Preston PardusSS-Green Light RacingChevrolet7Justin AllgaierJR MotorsportsChevrolet8Sammy SmithJR MotorsportsChevrolet9Shane van Gisbergen (i)JR MotorsportsChevrolet10Daniel Dye (R)Kaulig RacingChevrolet11Michael McDowell (i)Kaulig RacingChevrolet14Garrett SmithleySS-Green Light RacingChevrolet16Christian Eckes (R)Kaulig RacingChevrolet18William Sawalich (R)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota19Riley Herbst (i)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota20Brandon JonesJoe Gibbs RacingToyota21Austin HillRichard Childress RacingChevrolet24Kaz Grala (i)Sam Hunt RacingToyota25Harrison BurtonAM RacingFord26Dean Thompson (R)Sam Hunt RacingToyota27Jeb BurtonJordan Anderson RacingChevrolet28Kyle SiegRSS RacingFord31Blaine PerkinsJordan Anderson RacingChevrolet32Austin GreenJordan Anderson RacingChevrolet35Glen ReenJoey Gase MotorsportsToyota39Ryan SiegRSS RacingFord41Sam MayerHaas Factory TeamFord42Anthony AlfredoYoung's MotorsportsChevrolet44Brennan PooleAlpha Prime RacingChevrolet45Stefan Parsons (i)Alpha Prime RacingChevrolet48Nick Sanchez (R)Big Machine RacingChevrolet51Jeremy ClementsJeremy Clements RacingChevrolet53Austin J. HillJoey Gase MotorsportsChevrolet54Taylor Gray (R)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota70Thomas AnnunziataCope Family RacingChevrolet71Ryan EllisDGM RacingChevrolet88Connor Zilisch (R)JR MotorsportsChevrolet91Josh BilickiDGM RacingChevrolet99Matt DiBenedettoViking MotorsportsChevroletOfficial entry list
Practice The first and only practice session was held on Saturday, August 9, at 9:30 AM EST, and would last for 50 minutes. 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 .
Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed188Connor Zilisch (R)JR MotorsportsChevrolet1:11.001124.22428Sammy SmithJR MotorsportsChevrolet1:11.717122.98332Jesse LoveRichard Childress RacingChevrolet1:12.040122.432Full 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.
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 .
No drivers would fail to qualify.
Qualifying results Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed188Connor Zilisch (R)JR MotorsportsChevrolet1:10.884124.42929Shane van Gisbergen (i)JR MotorsportsChevrolet1:11.446123.450354Taylor Gray (R)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota1:11.529123.307441Sam MayerHaas Factory TeamFord1:11.602123.181518William Sawalich (R)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota1:11.664123.07468Sammy SmithJR MotorsportsChevrolet1:11.709122.997748Nick Sanchez (R)Big Machine RacingChevrolet1:11.721122.977824Kaz Grala (i)Sam Hunt RacingToyota1:11.728122.96597Justin AllgaierJR MotorsportsChevrolet1:11.762122.9061021Austin HillRichard Childress RacingChevrolet1:11.853122.7511100Sheldon CreedHaas Factory TeamFord1:11.855122.7471211Michael McDowell (i)Kaulig RacingChevrolet1:11.927122.6241320Brandon JonesJoe Gibbs RacingToyota1:11.992122.514141Carson Kvapil (R)JR MotorsportsChevrolet1:12.076122.371152Jesse LoveRichard Childress RacingChevrolet1:12.107122.3181619Riley Herbst (i)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota1:12.138122.2661725Harrison BurtonAM RacingFord1:12.139122.2641832Austin GreenJordan Anderson RacingChevrolet1:12.175122.2031926Dean Thompson (R)Sam Hunt RacingToyota1:12.296121.9982042Anthony AlfredoYoung's MotorsportsChevrolet1:12.462121.7192110Daniel Dye (R)Kaulig RacingChevrolet1:12.502121.652224Parker RetzlaffAlpha Prime RacingChevrolet1:12.505121.6472327Jeb BurtonJordan Anderson RacingChevrolet1:12.547121.5762499Matt DiBenedettoViking MotorsportsChevrolet1:12.552121.5682570Thomas AnnunziataCope Family RacingChevrolet1:12.625121.4462645Stefan Parsons (i)Alpha Prime RacingChevrolet1:12.654121.3972791Josh BilickiDGM RacingChevrolet1:12.677121.3592828Kyle SiegRSS RacingFord1:12.716121.2942939Ryan SiegRSS RacingFord1:12.719121.2893051Jeremy ClementsJeremy Clements RacingChevrolet1:12.791121.1693144Brennan PooleAlpha Prime RacingChevrolet1:12.843121.0823231Blaine PerkinsJordan Anderson RacingChevrolet1:13.029120.774Qualified by owner's points3371Ryan EllisDGM RacingChevrolet1:13.493120.0113407Preston PardusSS-Green Light RacingChevrolet1:13.531119.9493535Glen ReenJoey Gase MotorsportsToyota1:14.123118.9913616Christian Eckes (R)Kaulig RacingChevrolet––3714Garrett SmithleySS-Green Light RacingChevrolet––3853Austin J. HillJoey Gase MotorsportsChevrolet––Official qualifying resultsOfficial starting lineup
Race results Stage 1 Laps: 20 Pos.#DriverTeamMakePts17Justin AllgaierJR MotorsportsChevrolet10254Taylor Gray (R)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota9300Sheldon CreedHaas Factory TeamFord8448Nick Sanchez (R)Big Machine RacingChevrolet752Jesse LoveRichard Childress RacingChevrolet6625Harrison BurtonAM RacingFord5726Dean Thompson (R)Sam Hunt RacingToyota484Parker RetzlaffAlpha Prime RacingChevrolet3939Ryan SiegRSS RacingFord21099Matt DiBenedettoViking MotorsportsFord1
Stage 2 Laps: 20 Pos.#DriverTeamMakePts188Connor Zilisch (R)JR MotorsportsChevrolet1029Shane van Gisbergen (i)JR MotorsportsChevrolet0341Sam MayerHaas Factory TeamFord8421Austin HillRichard Childress RacingChevrolet751Carson Kvapil (R)JR MotorsportsChevrolet6611Michael McDowell (i)Kaulig RacingChevrolet0700Sheldon CreedHaas Factory TeamFord487Justin AllgaierJR MotorsportsChevrolet398Sammy SmithJR MotorsportsChevrolet21032Austin GreenJordan Anderson RacingChevrolet1
Stage 3 Laps: 42 FinSt#DriverTeamMakeLapsLedStatusPts1188Connor Zilisch (R)JR MotorsportsChevrolet8260Running512441Sam MayerHaas Factory TeamFord820Running43368Sammy SmithJR MotorsportsChevrolet821Running3641021Austin HillRichard Childress RacingChevrolet823Running405141Carson Kvapil (R)JR MotorsportsChevrolet820Running38697Justin AllgaierJR MotorsportsChevrolet823Running4471832Austin GreenJordan Anderson RacingChevrolet820Running3183616Christian Eckes (R)Kaulig RacingChevrolet820Running2991320Brandon JonesJoe Gibbs RacingToyota820Running28101725Harrison BurtonAM RacingFord820Running3211824Kaz Grala (i)Sam Hunt RacingToyota820Running0123144Brennan PooleAlpha Prime RacingChevrolet820Running25131926Dean Thompson (R)Sam Hunt RacingToyota820Running2814152Jesse LoveRichard Childress RacingChevrolet821Running29153051Jeremy ClementsJeremy Clements RacingChevrolet820Running22162327Jeb BurtonJordan Anderson RacingChevrolet820Running21172110Daniel Dye (R)Kaulig RacingChevrolet820Running2018354Taylor Gray (R)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota820Running28192645Stefan Parsons (i)Alpha Prime RacingChevrolet820Running0203853Austin J. HillJoey Gase MotorsportsChevrolet820Running17213535Glen ReenJoey Gase MotorsportsToyota820Running1622224Parker RetzlaffAlpha Prime RacingChevrolet821Running18233231Blaine PerkinsJordan Anderson RacingChevrolet800Running1424748Nick Sanchez (R)Big Machine RacingChevrolet750Accident20251211Michael McDowell (i)Kaulig RacingChevrolet731Accident026518William Sawalich (R)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota731Accident11272791Josh BilickiDGM RacingChevrolet730Accident10282939Ryan SiegRSS RacingFord730Accident11293371Ryan EllisDGM RacingChevrolet730Accident8302828Kyle SiegRSS RacingFord730Accident73129Shane van Gisbergen (i)JR MotorsportsChevrolet6411Accident0322042Anthony AlfredoYoung's MotorsportsChevrolet630Running5332499Matt DiBenedettoViking MotorsportsChevrolet520Suspension5343407Preston PardusSS-Green Light RacingChevrolet520Running3351100Sheldon CreedHaas Factory TeamFord500Accident14361619Riley Herbst (i)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota390Engine0372570Thomas AnnunziataCope Family RacingChevrolet240Accident1383714Garrett SmithleySS-Green Light RacingChevrolet30Engine1Official race results
Standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Connor Zilisch 823 2 Justin Allgaier 816 (–7) 3 Sam Mayer 799 (–24) 4 Jesse Love 731 (–92) 5 Austin Hill 690 (–133) 6 Carson Kvapil 660 (–163) 7 Brandon Jones 646 (–177) 8 Sheldon Creed 625 (–198) 9 Taylor Gray 624 (–199) 10 Sammy Smith 603 (–220) 11 Harrison Burton 578 (–245) 12 Nick Sanchez 555 (–268)Official driver's standings