LONG POND, Pa. – It was only a matter of time before a late-race NASCAR Xfinity Series battle for the win came down to longtime friends Connor Zilisch and Jesse Love.

What was an eventual inevitability finally happened Saturday at Pocono Raceway, with the young pair fighting tooth-and-nail in the closing laps following a late-race restart at the 2.5-mile, three-turn oval.

In the end, Zilisch wasn’t tricked by Love or the ‘Tricky Triangle’ as he ultimately won the Explore the Pocono Mountains 250 for his long-awaited first oval win in the Xfinity Series, while Love ended up one spot short.

Zilisch rolled off ninth for the 100-lap affair, but methodically worked his way up to the lead on a strategy call by interim crew chief Dale Earnhardt Jr., leading for the first time on lap 42.

Ultimately, he paced 34 laps in total, including the pass for the win he made with five to go over Love after Justin Allgaier and Chase Elliott washed up the racetrack and out of contention with 13 to go in turn one.

The race was plagued by 10 cautions throughout, and a six-lap dash to the finish set Zilisch up with a prime opportunity to overhaul Love for the win.

After he got by Love, Zilisch stretched his lead out to four tenths of a second over Love, not the most comfortable win but still enough for the 18-year-old from Mooresville, N.C.

Love had mixed emotions about finishing runner-up to his best friend.

“That’s the most focused I’ve ever been inside a race car. I did not want Connor to beat me because I know I’ll have to hear about it for a long time,” Love said through a smile. “Hats off to him. He ran a good race. Once I was able to get a draft, I was able to get back to him. But that bums me out, I’m not going to lie.

“I’m still trying to be grateful we have fast race cars and are in position to win. But Connor got one over on us this time.”

Leaving Pocono, Love maintains fourth in the Xfinity Series’ regular season standings for a seventh straight race, hoping to cash in on extra playoff points when it comes time for the postseason reset.

Next, the Xfinity Series heads to EchoPark Speedway (formerly Atlanta Motor Speedway) for its second visit of the year. The first time out, superspeedway dominator Austin Hill – Love’s teammate at Richard Childress Racing – took the victory.

Love has notably earned the pole in all three of the Xfinity Series races he’s attempted in Atlanta.

Broadcast coverage of the Focused Health 250 is slated for Friday night, June 27 at 7:30 p.m. ET, live on The CW, the Performance Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.