Connor Zilisch awarded O’Reilly pole at Chicagoland

Connor Zilisch was awarded the pole position for the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series’ Cuervo 300 at Chicagoland Speedway on Saturday, July 4.

The event’s starting lineup was initially going to be determined through an on-track qualifying session that consisted of a single-car, single-lap qualifying format. During the session, each of the 38 competitors vying for 38 starting spots would cycle around Chicagoland once to post the fastest lap amongst one another, and the competitor who posted the single fastest lap was awarded the pole position.

Due to inclement weather rolling through the Chicagoland area on Friday afternoon, NASCAR elected to postpone Friday’s practice session to Saturday in place of qualifying. As a result, the starting lineup was determined using a qualifying metric formula per the NASCAR rulebook.

The formula awarded Zilisch, a 13-time O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race winner from Charlotte, North Carolina, the pole position. Zilisch, a full-time Cup Series rookie who is making his ninth O’Reilly start at Chicagoland with JR Motorsports, is coming off a runner-up result behind Shane van Gisbergen at Sonoma Raceway. Zilisch has notched a pair of victories in his part-time O’Reilly Series starts (Bristol Motor Speedway in April and Watkins Glen International in May) and will strive for a third this weekend at Chicagoland.

Zilisch will share the front row with Brent Crews, the latter of whom is ranked in 11th place in the standings and is coming off a third-place result at Sonoma. Carson Kvapil, Corey Day and Parker Retzlaff will start in the top five, respectively. Jesse Love, Anthony Alfredo, Sheldon Creed, Sam Mayer and Sammy Smith complete the top-10 starting grid.

With 38 competitors vying for 38 starting spots, all made the main event.

Chicagoland – Starting Lineup:

1. Connor Zilisch
2. Brent Crews
3. Carson Kvapil
4. Corey Day
5. Parker Retzlaff
6. Jesse Love
7. Anthony Alfredo
8. Sheldon Creed
9. Sam Mayer
10. Sammy Smith
11. Chase Elliott
12. Myatt Snider
13. William Sawalich
14. Ryan Sieg
15. Nick Sanchez
16. Austin Hill
17. Justin Allgaier
18. Harrison Burton
19. Josh Bilicki
20. Jeremy Clements
21. Cole Custer
22. Jeb Burton
23. Garrett Smithley
24. Brennan Poole
25. Taylor Gray
26. Dean Thompson
27. Patrick Staropoli
28. Ryan Ellis
29. Brandon Jones
30. Blaine Perkins
31. Leland Honeyman Jr.
32. Rajah Caruth
33. Kyle Sieg
34. Lavar Scott
35. Tyler Tomassi
36. Dawson Cram
37. Joey Gase
38. JJ Yeley

The 2026 Cuervo 300 at Chicagoland Speedway is scheduled to occur on Saturday, July 4, at 5:30 p.m. ET on the CW Network, MRN Radio, and SiriusXM.