May 9, 2026 | By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service

Connor Zilisch tracks down best friend for NASCAR O’Reilly win at The Glen

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y.—With a last-corner pass in a wounded car, Connor Zilisch preserved his perfect record at Watkins Glen International—at the expense of his best friend.

Running down Jesse Love after pitting with 25 laps left, Zilisch shot past Love’s No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet in Turn 7 and won a drag race to the finish line to win Saturday’s Mission 200 at the Glen by 0.262 seconds.

The victory was Zilisch’s third straight at the 2.45-mile road course in as many starts, his second in his fifth NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series start of the season and the 13th of his career.

Zilisch, Terry Labonte and Marcos Ambrose are the only drivers with three consecutive O’Reilly Series victories at Watkins Glen.

For the 70th straight race, JR Motorsports put at least one car in the top 10, nine short of RFK Racing’s record (2008-2010). JRM also collected its 11th straight road course victory.

The victory was the product of Zilisch’s relentless pursuit of Love, who pitted on Lap 48 of 72 and saved fuel the rest of the way, with Zilisch—from 18 seconds back—chopping full seconds per lap off Love’s lead over the final 25 circuits.

With six laps left, however, Zilisch hit the grass as he sped through the Bus stop chicane and damaged the undercarriage of his car. Adjusting to the altered feel of his No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, Zilisch continued his pursuit and closed on his friend.

On the final lap, Zilisch made up significant ground through the Bus Stop and took advantage when Love ran wide through the final corner.

“That was driving as hard as I could for all 30 of those laps (from a restart on lap 51), just trying to make up that gap,” Zilisch said. “I wasn’t going to move Jesse in the last corner there, but he got in deep, and I was able to get by”.

“It’s so cool to come back and get my third win at Watkins Glen in a row with JRM. Cool to get it with Rodney (Childers). He’s my third different crew chief here.”

This was the second significant battle between Zilisch and Love in the last six months. At Phoenix Raceway in November, Love outdueled the heavily favored Zilisch to win the series championship.

On Saturday, it was Love who was disconsolate.

“At the end of the day, the glaring piece of it is I had a bad corner,” Love said. “It was definitely a challenging but good experience for me. I’ve never saved fuel on a road course. What a good mental challenge for me.

“All I want to do is beat Connor here (on a road course), right? We’re best friends, and we’ve caused each other a lot of pain. I didn’t execute when I needed to. I think the reason I’m so quiet is I’m just embarrassed, right? As a driver, you just can’t make those mistakes.”

As a measure of the friendship between the two drivers, the first person to Love’s car after the race who Zilisch’s mother, who gave Love a consoling hug.

Taylor Gray and Ross Chastain finished third and fourth, respectively, both on fuel-saving strategy. Brandon Jones was fifth, followed by rookie Brent Crews, Parker Retzlaff, Shane van Gisbergen, Austin Green and Justin Allgaier, whose series lead over second place Sheldon Creed (29th Saturday) grew to 155 points.

van Gisbergen was in the mix for the win before contact between his car and Zilisch’s on pit road tore the left front fender on Zilisch’s No. 9 JRM Chevrolet. van Gisbergen had to pit again for repairs, his winning chances gone.

Crews led a race-high 32 laps, followed by Zilisch with 20 and Love with 18.

After the victory, Zilisch climbed from his care with utmost care, determined not to repeat the fall from the window ledge that cost him a broken collarbone last year.

“It really means a lot to get another one here and get out of the car safely and get onto the ground without killing myself,” Zilisch quipped.

Zilisch and van Gisbergen will race as Trackhouse Racing teammates in Sunday’s Go Bowling at The Glen, with the New Zealander on the pole for the NASCAR Cup Series event (3 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).


NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series Race Number 13
Race Results for the Mission 200 at The Glen - Saturday, May 9, 2026
Watkins Glen International - Watkins Glen, NY - 2.45 - Mile Road

Total Race Length - 82 Laps - 200.9 Miles

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

1 17 1 Connor Zilisch(i) Jockey 150 Years Chevrolet 82 1 0 Running 5 20
2 8 2 Jesse Love Whelen Chevrolet 82 4 5 48 Running 1 18
3 25 54 Taylor Gray Operation 300 Toyota 82 6 39 Running
4 29 32 Ross Chastain(i) T-M-T Gravel & Contracting Inc. Chevrolet 82 9 0 Running
5 7 20 Brandon Jones Menards Toyota 82 5 10 39 Running
6 4 19 Brent Crews # Wix Filters Toyota 82 1 2 51 Running 2 32
7 6 99 Parker Retzlaff US Environmental Chevrolet 82 8 33 Running
8 12 9 Shane Van Gisbergen(i) Kubota Chevrolet 82 3 0 Running 3 7
9 35 87 Austin Green Overplay Chevrolet 82 28 Running
10 2 7 Justin Allgaier BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet 82 3 4 42 Running
11 9 21 Austin Hill Bennett Transportation Chevrolet 82 6 7 35 Running
12 1 88 Rajah Caruth HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 82 7 29 Running 1 2
13 5 41 Sam Mayer Audibel Chevrolet 82 2 8 36 Running 1 3
14 34 91 Carson Kvapil Clarience Technologies Chevrolet 82 23 Running
15 27 17 Corey Day HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 82 22 Running
16 10 8 Sammy Smith Arby's BBQ Chevrolet 82 9 23 Running
17 22 24 Harrison Burton DEX/SHARP Toyota 82 20 Running
18 18 44 Brennan Poole Midas Chevrolet 82 19 Running
19 30 0 Alex Labbe Liberty Brew Chevrolet 82 18 Running
20 36 42 Will Rodgers Drydene Chevrolet 82 17 Running
21 38 50 Preston Pardus Chincor Electric Inc. Chevrolet 82 16 Running
22 26 07 Josh Bilicki High Lane Diecast Chevrolet 82 15 Running
23 13 39 Ryan Sieg aperam Recycling Chevrolet 82 10 15 Running
24 15 96 Anthony Alfredo Metalico Chevrolet 82 13 Running
25 23 27 Jeb Burton FVP Verified.Proven Chevrolet 82 12 Running
26 24 31 Blaine Perkins Davidson Buick/GMC Chevrolet 81 11 Out of Fuel
27 20 45 Lavar Scott # Sunoco Chevrolet 81 10 Out of Fuel
28 21 92 Alex Guenette DLGL WGI Chevrolet 81 9 Running
29 3 00 Sheldon Creed Ollie's Chevrolet 81 8 Running
30 32 55 Glen Reen Toyota 81 7 Running
31 33 28 Kyle Sieg Monroe Extinguisher Chevrolet 81 6 Running
32 31 53 Derek White Chevrolet 78 5 Running
33 11 51 Jeremy Clements All Weather Power Equipment Chevrolet 74 4 Running
34 28 02 Ryan Ellis Tablo TV Chevrolet 72 3 Suspension
35 16 26 Dean Thompson Thompson Pipe Group Toyota 54 2 Transmission
36 14 18 William Sawalich Starkey Toyota 15 1 Engine
37 37 35 Matt Wilson Monroe Kitchen Chevrolet 5 1 Accident
38 19 48 Patrick Staropoli # Syfovre Chevrolet 4 1 Engine

Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 10 Mins, 7 Secs. Average Speed: 92.64 MPH Margin of Victory: .262 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 19, 41, 7, 2, 20, 21, 88, 99, 32, 39
Stage 2 Top 10: 1, 19, 9, 7, 2, 54, 21, 41, 8, 20

Race Comments: Connor Zilisch has won the Mission 200 at The Glen, his 13th career victory in the NASCAR O?Reilly Auto Parts Series. Prior to the start of the race, the following vehicle(s) dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reason indicated: Nos. 00, 26 & 35 (unapproved adjustments).

Failed to Qualify: None.

Caution Flags: 5 for 13 laps; Laps: 22-24 (Stage 1 Conclusion [55]); 27-28 (Incident Turn 1 No. 51 & 45 [27]); 35-36 (Debris Backstretch [02]); 42-44 (Stage 2 Conclusion [53]); 48-50 (Incident Inner Loop No. 00 & 7 [53]).

Lead Changes: 13 among 6 drivers; S. Mayer 1-3; B. Crews # 4-22; C. Zilisch(i) 23-28; S. Gisbergen(i) 29; C. Zilisch(i) 30-35; S. Gisbergen(i) 36; C. Zilisch(i) 37-42; B. Crews # 43-55; C. Zilisch(i) 56; S. Gisbergen(i) 57-61; R. Caruth 62-63; J. Love 64-81; C. Zilisch(i) 82.

(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series

Next Race: May 16, 2026 - Dover Motor Speedway

NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications @ P.O. Box 2875, Daytona Beach, FL 32120-2875



CURRENT NASCAR O'REILLY AUTO PARTS SERIES STANDINGS

Through May 9, 2026

UNOFFICIAL UNOFFICIAL

1. Justin Allgaier 7 13 0 640 0 0 3 5
2. Sheldon Creed 00 13 0 485 -155 155 1 0
3. Jesse Love 2 13 0 479 -161 6 0 2
4. Brandon Jones 20 13 1 433 -207 46 0 2
5. Corey Day 17 13 -1 422 -218 11 1 2
6. Sammy Smith 8 13 0 399 -241 23 0 1
7. Austin Hill 21 13 0 392 -248 7 1 4
8. Carson Kvapil 91 13 0 380 -260 12 0 1
9. Parker Retzlaff 99 13 0 362 -278 18 0 0
10. Taylor Gray 54 13 0 345 -295 17 1 0
11. Brent Crews # 19 9 3 324 -316 21 0 1
12. Sam Mayer 41 13 0 321 -319 3 0 1

13. William Sawalich 18 13 -2 304 -336 17 1 0
14. Rajah Caruth 88 13 1 300 -340 4 0 1
15. Ryan Sieg 39 13 -2 292 -348 8 0 0
16. Brennan Poole 44 13 0 257 -383 35 0 0
17. Jeb Burton 27 13 1 223 -417 34 0 0
18. Dean Thompson 26 13 -1 219 -421 4 0 0
19. Anthony Alfredo 96 13 1 215 -425 4 0 0
20. Jeremy Clements 51 13 -1 212 -428 3 0 0