NASCAR: Larson Admits He Ran Out of Talent Against Zilisch

BRISTOL, Tenn. — Kyle Larson (pictured) was untouchable for 289 laps. He swept the stages, led 230 circuits, and looked every bit the two-time Cup Series champion he is. But on the final restart of Saturday night’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Suburban Propane 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway, it wasn’t the veteran who delivered. It was 20-year-old Connor Zilisch — calm, precise, and mistake-free — who stole the show and left Larson admitting he simply ran out of talent.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

Zilisch, driving the No. 1 Roto-Rooter Chevrolet for JR Motorsports, started 15th but played the late-race strategy perfectly. When the seventh caution flew on Lap 270 for Gray Gaulding’s spin, crew chief Rodney Childers made the call that won the race: Zilisch and Brent Crews stayed out on older tires. Larson, who had been dominating on fresh rubber, restarted fourth.

With 11 laps remaining, the green flag dropped and the fireworks began. Larson quickly disposed of Crews for second and began hunting Zilisch. For nearly nine laps the two JR Motorsports teammates waged a fierce side-by-side battle around the 0.533-mile concrete bullring. Zilisch, on older tires, never flinched. He hit every mark, took the high line when needed, and kept the door shut.

Connor Zilisch fends off Brent Crews and Kyle Larson and wins the NOAPS race at Bristol.@AlwaysRaceDay pic.twitter.com/n7sPcpSxWY

— Mr Matthew CFB (@MrMatthew_CFB) April 12, 2026

Then, with just over two laps to go, Larson’s No. 88 Chevrolet slipped in Turn 4.

“I needed Connor around the bottom, like one more corner maybe,” Larson said afterward. “I could have gotten control of his outside, but yeah, he moved up at the right time. I tried to move around a little bit for a lap and a half behind him, and it was just not going to work. So I needed him to make a mistake… but I made the mistake behind him.”

In plain terms, Larson admitted he ran out of talent when it mattered most. Zilisch made zero mistakes when it counted.

The 0.703-second margin at the stripe was the final punctuation on a night that belonged to the rookie-turned-Xfinity standout. Zilisch picked up his first win of 2026, his first career Bristol victory, and the 12th of his O’Reilly Series career. It was also redemption for a driver who has struggled in the Cup Series this season and admitted the back-of-the-pack finishes had him questioning himself.

“That was awesome,” Zilisch said in Victory Lane. “It’s been a tough past two weeks for me in the Cup Series, and it feels good to come back down here into the O’Reilly Series and prove that I can still do it… We played strategy. Rodney made a great call to keep us out. The tires weren’t wearing much all night, and we were able to get our No. 1 Roto-Rooter Chevrolet in the track position that I needed to go out and win the race.”

Connor Zilisch, driver of the #1 Roto-Rooter Chevrolet, celebrates after winning the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Suburban Propane 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway on April 11, 2026 in Bristol, Tennessee. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)

Four JR Motorsports Chevrolets finished in the top five — Zilisch first, Larson second, Justin Allgaier fourth, and Carson Kvapil fifth — with Joe Gibbs Racing’s Brent Crews third on the same stay-out strategy.

For Larson, the runner-up finish was a bitter pill despite the strong car. He’ll now turn his attention to Sunday’s Cup Series Food City 500 at the same track, where he’ll be looking to break a long winless streak in the premier series. But on this Saturday night, the kid from JR Motorsports reminded everyone — including one of the sport’s greatest talents — that Bristol still rewards the driver who refuses to blink first.

Zilisch didn’t just hold him off. He schooled him. And Larson was the first to say it.

Larson Now admits Verstappen untouchable

Last year, the current defending NASCAR Cup Series champion Larson claimed he is a better driver than four-time Formula 1 world champion Verstappen.
According to the American, they generally do not get the same respect from Europeans in terms of sports, especially racing.

He said on the SPEED with Harvick and Buxton YouTube channel: “Hopefully we’ll get to the point where NASCAR and American auto racing gets that respect that it deserves because there’s so much different, diverse racing in America, compared to Europe, that in my mind, it would have to develop a driver that’s just as good or potentially better than any other part of the world.”

The NASCAR Cup Series champion continued: “To answer the second part, I don’t know how you ever figure out who the best is. I don’t know if you need to, I think the debate is fun, you know, it’s fun to have the banter between, you know, American fans or European fans or, or open-wheel fans, whatever.”

Formula 1 drivers trying out NASCAR would not be completely unusual. In previous years, world champions Jenson Button and Kimi Räikkönen both competed in one-off events. Larson would like to see Verstappen give it a go as well.

I would like to see anybody come and try cup racing just to honestly get their opinion of what they think of our racing and, and how it is. It would, I would imagine it’d have to be much different than what they’re used to. He’s extremely good.

“He gets the praise from so many people like you have to accept that, yes, he probably is the best for how much they brag about him. Competitors, team executives, all that. So yeah, what he does is amazing.

“And I think what really shows how good he is like his teammate is never even on the same stratosphere as him. So where all the other teams are within a couple positions,” Larson concluded.