NASCAR News: Zilisch schools Larson in Bristol O’Reilly race

BRISTOL, Tenn. — Kyle Larson dominated nearly the entire race, but it was Connor Zilisch who delivered the upset Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway, holding off the Hendrick Motorsports star on older tires to capture the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Suburban Propane 300.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

Larson led a commanding 230 of the 300 laps and swept both stages in the No. 88 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet. Yet a late-race strategy gamble by JR Motorsports crew chief Rodney Childers proved decisive. Zilisch, driving the No. 1 Roto-Rooter Chevrolet, stayed out during the final cautions to gain track position and fended off Larson’s charge on fresh rubber in a frantic 11-lap sprint to the checkered flag. Zilisch crossed the line 0.703 seconds ahead for his first win of the 2026 season.

“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.

“It’s tough. You finish in the back every week and you forget who you are. This feels good. 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 Chevrolet in the track position that I needed to go out and win the race.”

The victory marked Zilisch’s first career win on a short track, his first at Bristol, and the 12th of his Xfinity Series career. It was also Childers’ first win in the series after a decorated run as a Cup crew chief, primarily alongside Kevin Harvick.

JR Motorsports flexed its muscle with four cars in the top five. Justin Allgaier finished fourth and Carson Kvapil fifth, while Joe Gibbs Racing’s Brent Crews — also on the long-run strategy — stole third. Allgaier picked up his eighth career $100,000 O’Reilly Auto Parts Dash 4 Cash bonus as the highest-finishing eligible driver and stretched his points lead to 130 over Sheldon Creed, who finished sixth.

The night featured plenty of drama. Early in the final stage, Mason Maggio’s engine exploded on the backstretch, triggering a red-flag period while his car caught fire on pit road. Allgaier’s crew members helped pull Maggio from the burning Chevrolet; he was uninjured.

Scary moment for @MasonMaggio1 as his car becomes engulfed in flames. Thankfully he was able to get out of the car safely. pic.twitter.com/CNOUUlzvAE

— RACER (@RACERHQ) April 12, 2026

After the restart, Larson continued to lead until Gray Gaulding’s spin on lap 270 set up the final round of strategy decisions. Zilisch, Crews and Corey Day stayed out on older tires while Larson took fresh rubber and restarted fourth. A caution for Anthony Alfredo’s spin on the frontstretch with 11 laps to go set up the decisive restart.

In the green-flag run to the finish, Larson quickly dispatched Crews for second and hounded Zilisch until his No. 88 Chevrolet slipped loose in Turn 4 with just over two laps remaining, handing Zilisch the margin he needed to seal the win.

“It’s a bummer, but I had a lot of fun tonight,” Larson said. “Our car was really good. Just tough being the leader in that situation of knowing to pit or not… But I’m happy with the run. It just doesn’t always work out.”

Pole sitter William Sawalich finished seventh, while Corey Day extended his streak of top-10 finishes to eight straight.

For Zilisch, the emotional victory provided a timely confidence boost as the 19-year-old rookie continues to navigate the challenges of balancing a full Cup Series schedule with select Xfinity starts.

Race Results