NASCAR News: Connor Zilisch wins O’Reilly Auto Parts Series pole at COTA
Connor Zilisch (pictured) kicked off his double-duty NASCAR weekend at Circuit of The Americas in style, claiming the pole position for the Focused Health 250 in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series during Friday’s qualifying session.
–by Mark Cipolloni–
The NASCAR Cup Series rookie, driving for Trackhouse Racing in the premier division, returned to the O’Reilly Series this weekend with JR Motorsports. He secured the pole for the team for the second straight year, posting a lap time of 97.740 seconds (88.398 mph) on the 17-turn, 2.4-mile National Course. That edged out his Trackhouse teammate Shane van Gisbergen—who is also competing for JR Motorsports this weekend—by 0.209 seconds (97.949 seconds, 88.209 mph).
“It’s fun to be back in these cars. Thanks to JR Motorsports for having me and Safety Culture. It’s really fun,” van Gisbergen said after his run. “They just move around so much. It’s really cool. My lap was good, but that little bugger is pretty quick. Hopefully we race him tomorrow. My long-run speed was good in the race runs we did in practice. Who knows? Up the front is a good place to start.”
Zilisch will lead the 38-car field to the green flag for Saturday’s 65-lap race, which starts at 2 p.m. CT (TV: CW; Radio: PRN, SiriusXM). This marks his first pole of the season and the 10th of his career.
Earlier in the day, Zilisch posted the ninth-fastest time in practice but dealt with a tire puncture. “We had a bit of an issue in practice and cut a tire down,” he explained. “We made some adjustments on the front end to not do that again. The entire #1 crew—it’s great being with Rodney [Childers], having his experience, and everyone here in this JR Motorsports team. It’s been a lot of fun getting back with these guys in the O’Reilly car. I love coming back and racing these cars; they’re a ton of fun. We’ve got a fast Chevrolet for tomorrow. Looking forward to it. Busy weekend for me, but great way to start it.”
JR Motorsports dominated qualifying, claiming three of the top five spots and four of the top 10. Justin Allgaier qualified fifth (98.562 seconds, 87.661 mph), while Sammy Smith took 10th (98.863 seconds, 87.394 mph).
Austin Hill of Richard Childress Racing and Brandon Jones of Joe Gibbs Racing interrupted the JR Motorsports sweep by securing third and fourth, respectively. Hill, who won from the pole in the season opener at Daytona, turned a lap of 98.359 seconds (87.841 mph). Jones delivered his best qualifying effort of the year at 98.448 seconds (87.762 mph).
NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Circuit of the Americas, Qualifying
| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Time | Behind | Gap |
| 1 | 1 | Connor Zilisch(i) | Roto-Rooter Chevrolet | 97.740 | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 9 | Shane Van Gisbergen(i) | Safety Culture Chevrolet | 97.949 | 0.209 | 0.209 |
| 3 | 21 | Austin Hill | Bennett Transportation Chevrolet | 98.359 | 0.619 | 0.410 |
| 4 | 20 | Brandon Jones | Menards/Fisher Toyota | 98.448 | 0.708 | 0.089 |
| 5 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | BRANDT Chevrolet | 98.562 | 0.822 | 0.114 |
| 6 | 91 | Carson Kvapil | Clarience Technologies Chevrolet | 98.572 | 0.832 | 0.010 |
| 7 | 19 | Brent Crews | Young Life Toyota | 98.670 | 0.930 | 0.098 |
| 8 | 41 | Sam Mayer | Charbroil Chevrolet | 98.717 | 0.977 | 0.047 |
| 9 | 0 | Sheldon Creed | Road Ranger Chevrolet | 98.786 | 1.046 | 0.069 |
| 10 | 8 | Sammy Smith | Pilot Chevrolet | 98.863 | 1.123 | 0.077 |
| 11 | 2 | Jesse Love | Whelen Chevrolet | 98.887 | 1.147 | 0.024 |
| 12 | 17 | Corey Day | HendrickCars.com Chevrolet | 98.900 | 1.160 | 0.013 |
| 13 | 87 | Austin Green | Peterson Racing Chevrolet | 98.903 | 1.163 | 0.003 |
| 14 | 54 | Taylor Gray | Operation 300 Toyota | 99.021 | 1.281 | 0.118 |
| 15 | 18 | William Sawalich | Soundgear Toyota | 99.393 | 1.653 | 0.372 |
| 16 | 96 | Anthony Alfredo | Protein Rice Treats Chevrolet | 99.429 | 1.689 | 0.036 |
| 17 | 50 | Preston Pardus | Chincor Electric Inc. Chevrolet | 99.483 | 1.743 | 0.054 |
| 18 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | SciAps/SIMS METAL Chevrolet | 99.542 | 1.802 | 0.059 |
| 19 | 88 | Rajah Caruth | HendrickCars.com Chevrolet | 99.544 | 1.804 | 0.002 |
| 20 | 25 | Nick Sanchez | Paynuity Ford | 99.546 | 1.806 | 0.002 |
| 21 | 32 | Ross Chastain(i) | GLF Environmental Chevrolet | 99.586 | 1.846 | 0.040 |
| 22 | 55 | Sage Karam | Point Blank Tequila Toyota | 99.947 | 2.207 | 0.361 |
| 23 | 24 | Harrison Burton | DEX/Sharp Toyota | 100.024 | 2.284 | 0.077 |
| 24 | 31 | Blaine Perkins | WERNER Chevrolet | 100.140 | 2.400 | 0.116 |
| 25 | 7 | Josh Bilicki | Circle B Diecast Chevrolet | 100.145 | 2.405 | 0.005 |
| 26 | 44 | Brennan Poole | Frontline Fire Protection Chevrolet | 100.190 | 2.450 | 0.045 |
| 27 | 26 | Dean Thompson | Thompson Pipe Group Toyota | 100.241 | 2.501 | 0.051 |
| 28 | 0 | Alex Labbe | Trophy Tractor Chevrolet | 100.243 | 2.503 | 0.002 |
| 29 | 99 | Parker Retzlaff | Viking Motorsports Chevrolet | 100.431 | 2.691 | 0.188 |
| 30 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | Alliance Driveway Solutions Chevrolet | 100.462 | 2.722 | 0.031 |
| 31 | 45 | Lavar Scott # | Urban Affairs Coalition Chevrolet | 100.484 | 2.744 | 0.022 |
| 32 | 48 | Patrick Staropoli | Syfovre Chevrolet | 100.702 | 2.962 | 0.218 |