April 11, 2026 | By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service

Connor Zilisch makes late surge to O’Reilly Auto Parts Series win at Bristol

BRISTOL, Tenn.—Connor Zilisch rediscovered his identity on Saturday night — as a winner.

Thanks to a bold call from crew chief Rodney Childers, Zilisch stayed out on older tires with 28 laps left in the Suburban Propane 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway and took the checkered flag.

With track position at the front of the field, Zilisch was able to hold off the dominant car of Kyle Larson, who had to settle for second place after leading 230 of 300 laps and sweeping the first two stages in the ninth NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race of the 2026 season.

For Zilisch, his first victory on a short track was a welcome respite from the struggles he had faced as a rookie in the Cup Series.

“That was awesome,” said Zilisch, the fourth different winner for JR Motorsports this season. “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 (No. 1) Roto-Rooter Chevrolet in the track position that I needed to go out and win the race.”

Zilisch picked up his first win of the season, his first at Bristol and the 12th of his career. He was one of four JRM drivers in the top five, a group that included Larson, Justin Allgaier (fourth) and Carson Kvapil (fifth). Joe Gibbs Racing driver Brent Crews crashed that party with a third-place finish on the same strategy that propelled Zilisch to the victory.

For the eighth time in his career, Allgaier collected a $100,000 bonus in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Dash 4 Cash program as the highest finisher among four eligible drivers (the top four in last Saturday’s race at Rockingham Speedway).

A three-time winner this year, Allgaier retained his series lead by 130 points over second-place Sheldon Creed, who ran sixth at Bristol.

Larson was leading with Allgaier in pursuit early in the final stage when the engine in Mason Maggio’s No. 91 DGM Racing Chevrolet exploded on the backstretch, filling the “Last Great Colosseum” with smoke.

Maggio steered the car to pit road, where it erupted in flames. Several of Allgaier’s crew members helped pull Maggio from the car. The driver was uninjured.

But the fireworks were just starting. After the resumption from a three-minute, five-second red flag period, Larson dominated – until Gray Gaulding’s spin in Turn 1 caused the seventh caution of the evening on Lap 270.

Zilisch, Crews and Corey Day stayed out on older tires, with Larson fourth on new rubber. Larson, Zilisch and Crews battled for position until the eighth caution for Anthony Alfredo’s spin on the frontstretch slowed the race for the final time.

An intense battle for the lead followed the subsequent restart with 11 laps left. Larson passed Crews for second and harried Zilisch until his No. 88 Chevy slipped in Turn 4 with just over two laps left, giving Zilisch the margin he needed to win by 0.703 seconds.

The victory was Childers’ first in the O’Reilly Series, after a long and successful run as a Cup crew chief, predominantly with Kevin Harvick.

Larson enjoyed the battle, if not the outcome.

“It’s a bummer, but I had a lot of fun tonight,” said Larson, who will race in Sunday’s Food City 500 NASCAR Cup Series event (3 p.m. ET, FS1, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). “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 winner William Sawalich was seventh, followed by Day, Parker Retzlaff and Taylor Gray. Day recorded his eighth straight top-10 finish.

The O’Reilly Auto Parts Series’ next race is scheduled Saturday, April 18, at Kansas Speedway (7 p.m. ET, The CW, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Note: Inspection in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series garage was completed without major issue, confirming Zilisch’s victory. The No. 44 Alpha Prime Racing Chevrolet that Brennan Poole drove to an 18th-place finish had one lug nut unsecured in a post-race check, which will result in loss of pit selection for the circuit’s next race.


NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series Race Number 9
Race Results for the Suburban Propane 300 - Saturday, April 11, 2026
Bristol Motor Speedway - Bristol, TN - 0.533 - Mile Concrete

Total Race Length - 300 Laps - 159.9 Miles

                                                   Stage 1  Stage 2 
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Pts  Pos       Pos   Status Tms Laps

1 15 1 Connor Zilisch(i) Roto-Rooter Chevrolet 300 7 4 0 Running 3 24
2 3 88 Kyle Larson(i) HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 300 1 1 0 Running 4 230
3 17 19 Brent Crews # Mobil 1 Toyota 300 5 41 Running 1 3
4 7 7 Justin Allgaier Carolina Carports Chevrolet 300 4 3 48 Running
5 8 9 Carson Kvapil High Rock Vodka Chevrolet 300 10 33 Running
6 2 00 Sheldon Creed Ollie's Chevrolet 300 2 2 49 Running
7 1 18 William Sawalich SoundGear Toyota 300 6 6 40 Running 1 27
8 14 17 Corey Day HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 300 10 9 32 Running
9 9 99 Parker Retzlaff FUNKAWAY Chevrolet 300 28 Running
10 6 54 Taylor Gray Operation 300 Toyota 300 27 Running
11 11 39 Ryan Sieg SciAps/Turner Industries Chevrolet 300 3 34 Running 2 13
12 12 2 Jesse Love Whelen Chevrolet 300 8 28 Running
13 16 8 Sammy Smith Pilot Chevrolet 300 24 Running
14 38 32 Rajah Caruth HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 300 23 Running
15 19 51 Jeremy Clements 22 All South Electric/One Stop Convenience Stores 300 Running 1 1
16 13 27 Jeb Burton AJ Tank Lines Chevrolet 300 21 Running
17 22 24 Harrison Burton Dead On Tools Toyota 300 20 Running
18 10 44 Brennan Poole Macc Door Systems Chevrolet 300 19 Running
19 4 20 Brandon Jones Menards/Monster Energy Toyota 300 5 7 28 Running 2 2
20 5 41 Sam Mayer Audibel Chevrolet 300 9 8 22 Running
21 23 21 Austin Hill Global Industrial Chevrolet 300 16 Running
22 30 31 Blaine Perkins Bubba's 33 Chevrolet 299 15 Running
23 27 07 Josh Bilicki 10 Spot Tools Chevrolet 299 14 Running
24 21 26 Dean Thompson Thompson Pipe Group Toyota 298 13 Running
25 20 28 Kyle Sieg Night Owl Companies Chevrolet 298 12 Running
26 34 5 JJ Yeley Victory Custom Trailers Ford 298 11 Running
27 32 48 Patrick Staropoli # Syfovre Chevrolet 298 10 Running
28 28 74 Gray Gaulding Flywheel Chevrolet 298 9 Running
29 29 92 Josh Williams Call811.com Chevrolet 297 8 Running
30 33 02 Ryan Ellis Demco Chevrolet 297 7 Running
31 36 55 Joey Gase Alarm Tech Chevrolet 297 6 Running
32 26 45 Lavar Scott # TruShine Car Wash Chevrolet 295 5 Running
33 24 42 Logan Bearden T3 Vodka Chevrolet 295 4 Running
34 37 35 Blake Lothian The Texas Lawbook Toyota 295 3 Running
35 25 87 Austin Green Overplay Chevrolet 290 2 Running
36 18 96 Anthony Alfredo Ohio Logistics Chevrolet 287 1 Running
37 31 91 Mason Maggio SI Yachts Chevrolet 191 1 Engine
38 35 0 Garrett Smithley Chevrolet 176 1 Suspension

Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 3 Mins, 11 Secs. Average Speed: 77.884 MPH Margin of Victory: 0.703 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 88, 00, 39, 7, 20, 18, 1, 2, 41, 17
Stage 2 Top 10: 88, 00, 7, 1, 19, 18, 20, 41, 17, 9

Race Comments: Connor Zilisch won the Suburban Propane 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway, his 12th career NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series victory. Prior to the green flag to start the race, the following cars dropped to the rear for the reasons indicated: No. 9 (engine change); No. 32 (unapproved adjustments).

Failed to Qualify: None.

Caution Flags: 8 for 59 laps; Laps: 2-6 (#91 spin backstretch [None]); 64-70 (#87 slowed on track [21]); 87-97 (Stage 1 Conclusion [24]); 103-107 (#0, 42 incident turn 4 [02]); 172-182 (Stage 2 Conclusion [51]); 196-201 (Oil on track from #91 [Red Flag: Lap 196, 3:05] [44]); 271-278 (#74 spin turn 1 [51]); 284-289 (#96 spin frontstretch [21]).

Lead Changes: 13 among 7 drivers; W. Sawalich 1-27; K. Larson(i) 28-64; B. Jones 65; R. Sieg 66-69; J. Clements 70; R. Sieg 71-79; K. Larson(i) 80-175; B. Jones 176; K. Larson(i) 177-272; C. Zilisch(i) 273-288; K. Larson(i) 289; C. Zilisch(i) 290; B. Crews # 291-293; C. Zilisch(i) 294-300.

(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series

Next Race: April 18, 2026 - Kansas Speedway

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CURRENT NASCAR O'REILLY AUTO PARTS SERIES STANDINGS

UNOFFICIAL UNOFFICIAL

1. Justin Allgaier 7 9 0 470 0 0 3 3
2. Sheldon Creed 00 9 1 340 -130 130 1 0
3. Jesse Love 2 9 -1 324 -146 16 0 2
4. Corey Day 17 9 1 304 -166 20 0 2
5. Carson Kvapil 9 9 1 300 -170 4 0 0
6. Austin Hill 21 9 -2 293 -177 7 1 4
7. Sammy Smith 8 9 0 284 -186 9 0 1
8. Brandon Jones 20 9 0 275 -195 9 0 0
9. Parker Retzlaff 99 9 0 257 -213 18 0 0
10. William Sawalich 18 9 1 254 -216 3 1 0
11. Rajah Caruth 32 9 -1 238 -232 16 0 1
12. Taylor Gray 54 9 0 230 -240 8 0 0
13. Ryan Sieg 39 9 1 202 -268 28 0 0
14. Sam Mayer 41 9 -1 195 -275 7 0 1
15. Brennan Poole 44 9 0 181 -289 14 0 0
16. Jeb Burton 27 9 1 163 -307 18 0 0
17. Anthony Alfredo 96 9 -1 158 -312 5 0 0
18. Brent Crews # 19 5 2 155 -315 3 0 0
19. Blaine Perkins 31 9 -1 137 -333 18 0 0
20. Patrick Staropoli # 48 9 -1 129 -341 8 0 0