| Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 16 of 33 of the2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series | |||
 | |||
| Date | June 21, 2025 | ||
| Official name | 10th Annual Explore the Pocono Mountains 250 | ||
| Location | Pocono Raceway inLong Pond, Pennsylvania | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 2.5 miles (4.0 km) | ||
| Distance | 100 laps, 250 mi (402 km) | ||
| Scheduled distance | 100 laps, 250 mi (402 km) | ||
| Average speed | 103.722 mph (166.924 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Hendrick Motorsports | ||
| Time | 54.209 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | |
| Laps | 38 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 88 | Connor Zilisch | JR Motorsports | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | The CW | ||
| Announcers | Adam Alexander,Ryan Blaney, andJamie McMurray | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | MRN | ||
The2025 Explore the Pocono Mountains 250 was the 16thstock car race of the2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series, and the 10th iteration of theevent. The race was held on Saturday, June 21, 2025, atPocono Raceway inLong Pond, Pennsylvania, a 2.5 miles (4.0 km) permanent triangular-shaped racetrack. The race took the scheduled 100 laps to complete.
Connor Zilisch, driving forJR Motorsports, would make a late race pass onJesse Love for the lead with four laps to go to earn his third careerNASCAR Xfinity Series win, his second of the season, and his first win on an oval track.[10] To fill out the podium,Christian Eckes, driving forKaulig Racing, would finish in 3rd, respectively.
This marked the first win forDale Earnhardt Jr. as a crew chief, filling in as a substitute forMardy Lindley, who was serving a one-race suspension for improperly secured lugnuts found in post-race inspection atNashville Superspeedway. Earnhardt would join a select group of history to win as both a driver and crew chief.[11]
Pocono Raceway is a 2.5-mile (4.0 km)oval speedway located inLong Pond, Pennsylvania, which has hostedNASCAR racing annually since the early 1970s. Nicknamed "The Tricky Triangle", the speedway has three distinct corners and is known for high speeds along its lengthy straightaways.
From 1982 to 2019, the circuit had two race weekends. In 2020, the circuit was reduced to one race meeting of two races. The first race was moved toWorld Wide Technology Raceway nearSt. Louis starting in 2022.
For practice, drivers were separated into two groups, A and B. Both sessions were 25 minutes long, and was held on Saturday, June 21, at 10:00 AMEST.[12]Justin Allgaier, driving forJR Motorsports, would set the fastest time between both groups, with a lap of 55.138, and a speed of 163.227 mph (262.688 km/h).
| Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Time | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 55.138 | 163.227 |
| 2 | 20 | Brandon Jones | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 55.190 | 163.073 |
| 3 | 88 | Connor Zilisch(R) | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 55.194 | 163.061 |
| Full practice results | ||||||
Qualifying was held on Saturday, June 21, at 11:05 AMEST. Standard intermediate track qualifying was in effect, although at Pocono, a hybrid road course qualifying rule was used. The timing line was set in the North Straight, exiting Turn 2, where cars exited pit road, drove two-thirds of a lap, then took the green flag at the timing line exiting Turn 2, and completing their lap there the next time by. Teams then immediately pitted the car, meaning only two laps were run. In addition, up to three cars could be at the track at one time, separated by considerable intervals (about 20 seconds) to ensure drafting was prohibited.[12]
Chase Elliott, driving forHendrick Motorsports, would score the pole for the race, with a lap of 54.209, and a speed of 166.024 mph (267.190 km/h).[13]
No drivers would fail to qualify.
Stage 1Laps: 25
| Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 20 | Brandon Jones | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 10 |
| 2 | 48 | Nick Sanchez(R) | Big Machine Racing | Chevrolet | 9 |
| 3 | 88 | Connor Zilisch(R) | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 8 |
| 4 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | RSS Racing | Ford | 7 |
| 5 | 16 | Christian Eckes(R) | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 6 |
| 6 | 8 | Sammy Smith | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 5 |
| 7 | 18 | William Sawalich(R) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 4 |
| 8 | 00 | Sheldon Creed | Haas Factory Team | Ford | 3 |
| 9 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | Jeremy Clements Racing | Chevrolet | 2 |
| 10 | 21 | Austin Hill | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 1 |
Stage 2Laps: 25
| Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 88 | Connor Zilisch(R) | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 10 |
| 2 | 54 | Taylor Gray(R) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 9 |
| 3 | 48 | Nick Sanchez(R) | Big Machine Racing | Chevrolet | 8 |
| 4 | 2 | Jesse Love | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 7 |
| 5 | 16 | Christian Eckes(R) | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 6 |
| 6 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | RSS Racing | Ford | 5 |
| 7 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 4 |
| 8 | 8 | Sammy Smith | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 3 |
| 9 | 1 | Carson Kvapil(R) | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 2 |
| 10 | 27 | Jeb Burton | Jordan Anderson Racing | Chevrolet | 1 |
Stage 3Laps: 50
| Fin[14] | St | # | Driver | Team | Make | Laps | Led | Status | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9 | 88 | Connor Zilisch(R) | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 100 | 34 | Running | 58 |
| 2 | 10 | 2 | Jesse Love | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 100 | 8 | Running | 42 |
| 3 | 15 | 16 | Christian Eckes(R) | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 100 | 0 | Running | 46 |
| 4 | 1 | 17 | Chase Elliott(i) | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 100 | 38 | Running | 0 |
| 5 | 5 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | RSS Racing | Ford | 100 | 0 | Running | 44 |
| 6 | 22 | 1 | Carson Kvapil(R) | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 100 | 0 | Running | 33 |
| 7 | 6 | 41 | Sam Mayer | Haas Factory Team | Ford | 100 | 1 | Running | 30 |
| 8 | 13 | 8 | Sammy Smith | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 100 | 0 | Running | 37 |
| 9 | 7 | 54 | Taylor Gray(R) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 100 | 0 | Running | 37 |
| 10 | 8 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 100 | 10 | Running | 31 |
| 11 | 20 | 27 | Jeb Burton | Jordan Anderson Racing | Chevrolet | 100 | 0 | Running | 27 |
| 12 | 21 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | Jeremy Clements Racing | Chevrolet | 100 | 0 | Running | 27 |
| 13 | 28 | 42 | Anthony Alfredo | Young's Motorsports | Chevrolet | 100 | 0 | Running | 24 |
| 14 | 16 | 25 | Harrison Burton | AM Racing | Ford | 100 | 3 | Running | 23 |
| 15 | 26 | 11 | Josh Williams | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 100 | 0 | Running | 22 |
| 16 | 19 | 44 | Brennan Poole | Alpha Prime Racing | Chevrolet | 100 | 0 | Running | 21 |
| 17 | 25 | 26 | Dean Thompson(R) | Sam Hunt Racing | Toyota | 100 | 0 | Running | 20 |
| 18 | 2 | 20 | Brandon Jones | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 100 | 6 | Running | 29 |
| 19 | 11 | 99 | Matt DiBenedetto | Viking Motorsports | Chevrolet | 100 | 0 | Running | 18 |
| 20 | 29 | 45 | Mason Massey | Alpha Prime Racing | Chevrolet | 100 | 0 | Running | 17 |
| 21 | 4 | 18 | William Sawalich(R) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 100 | 0 | Running | 20 |
| 22 | 23 | 4 | Parker Retzlaff | Alpha Prime Racing | Chevrolet | 100 | 0 | Running | 15 |
| 23 | 31 | 91 | Josh Bilicki | DGM Racing | Chevrolet | 100 | 0 | Running | 14 |
| 24 | 36 | 70 | Leland Honeyman | Cope Family Racing | Chevrolet | 100 | 0 | Running | 13 |
| 25 | 37 | 28 | Kyle Sieg | RSS Racing | Ford | 100 | 0 | Running | 12 |
| 26 | 32 | 14 | Garrett Smithley | SS-Green Light Racing | Chevrolet | 100 | 0 | Running | 11 |
| 27 | 38 | 53 | Logan Bearden | Joey Gase Motorsports | Chevrolet | 100 | 0 | Running | 10 |
| 28 | 3 | 48 | Nick Sanchez(R) | Big Machine Racing | Chevrolet | 100 | 0 | Running | 26 |
| 29 | 27 | 31 | Blaine Perkins | Jordan Anderson Racing | Chevrolet | 100 | 0 | Running | 8 |
| 30 | 35 | 07 | Patrick Emerling(i) | SS-Green Light Racing | Chevrolet | 100 | 0 | Running | 0 |
| 31 | 18 | 10 | Daniel Dye(R) | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 100 | 0 | Running | 6 |
| 32 | 24 | 71 | Ryan Ellis | DGM Racing | Chevrolet | 100 | 0 | Running | 5 |
| 33 | 34 | 74 | Dawson Cram | Mike Harmon Racing | Chevrolet | 99 | 0 | Running | 4 |
| 34 | 33 | 35 | Carson Ware | Joey Gase Motorsports | Ford | 99 | 0 | Running | 3 |
| 35 | 14 | 21 | Austin Hill | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 96 | 0 | Running | 3 |
| 36 | 12 | 00 | Sheldon Creed | Haas Factory Team | Ford | 88 | 0 | Accident | 4 |
| 37 | 30 | 5 | Kris Wright | Our Motorsports | Chevrolet | 69 | 0 | Suspension | 1 |
| 38 | 17 | 19 | Justin Bonsignore | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 7 | 0 | Engine | 1 |
| Official race results | |||||||||
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| Previous race: 2025 The Chilango 150 | NASCAR Xfinity Series 2025 season | Next race: 2025 Focused Health 250 (Atlanta) |
