Conor Zilisch Is “Keeping His Head High” Despite Heartbreaking Xfinity Championship Loss to Jesse Love

JR Motorsports star driver Conor Zilisch has shared his thoughts on heartbreaking Xfinity Series championship loss to Jesse Love.

Conor Zilisch Is “Keeping His Head High” Despite Heartbreaking Xfinity Championship Loss to Jesse Love

Conor Zilisch and Jesse Love (Via @XfinitySeries/X)

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There was only one driver that deserves the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series championship, JR Motorsports’ Conor Zilisch. He won 10 races, scored 20 top 5’s and lead over 1000 laps, marking one of the most dominant seasons in the series’ history. But unfortunately, his heart was shattered by his close friend Jesse Love, who won the season finale and the championship for RCR.

Connor Zilisch’s Chevy lost its pace late in the race, giving Jesse Love opportunity secure the win, while the former finished P3 in the race and P2 in the championship. But despite the heartbreak, he is flying back home with his head help high, as he understands the dominance he showed this season wasn’t matched by any of peers.

I’m still so proud of my team, what we’ve accomplished this year. We have nothing to hang our heads about. We were the best car for two-thirds of the year. We dominated until these last three races. Yeah, it cost us a championship, so… We’ll keep our heads high.

Connor Zilisch told the media (On3.com).

The youngster is proud of the success they had this season, winning the most races and being the most consistent, hence he has no reason to be upset about the year. At the end of the day, he now has to move on from the hurt soon as he will be making his Cup debut next season as rookie driving for Trackhouse Racing.

We are walking home with more than three times as many trophies as anybody else. We won the most races, had the most top-10s, top-5s, poles. There’s no reason we should be upset because of this outcome.

Connor Zilisch added.

Later in a separate conversation, the young racer gave the due credit to his team for the impressive year. The perfect execution from the team throughout the year from everyone in the crew, helped them to produce the solid season. He admitted that despite not winning the title, he will never forget the 2025 season.

This year’s been a dream. My teammate, my team, every crew member, everybody back at the shop, people working upstairs in the offices, everybody has treated me like family. I’ll remember this year forever. I just wish I could have gone out on top and left them with a championship. Yeah, I guess not.

Connor Zilisch asserted.

Connor Zilisch’s teammate Justin Allgaier is also heartbroken

The veteran teammate of Zilisch, Justin Allgaier also had a disappointing day as he finished the race behind the two youngsters and lost the title. He was hoping to say goodbye to his crew chief Jim Pohlman, who is set to join Kyle Busch at RCR in 2026, with a championship, but they fell short.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Justin Allgaier
Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Justin Allgaier (Via IMAGO)

I wanted to send Jim Pohlman off with another championship. He’s been an amazing part of this journey, got me my championship last year. Just felt like we did all the right things tonight, and we still came out of here really short.

Justin Allgaier said.

The dreams of two JRM drivers was shattered on Sunday. They will have their shot at redemption next-season, in the Cup and Xfinity series for redemption. It would be interesting to see how the coming years are going to playout for the duo.

Also Read: Kyle Larson Declares Denny Hamlin Winning 2025 Cup Championship “Not Going to Kill Him”