Connor Zilisch remains undefeated in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series at Watkins Glen International for a third consecutive year. His latest victory occurred on Saturday, May 9, after executing a final lap overtake on Jesse Love on the final turn to win a wild conclusion to the Mission 200.
The 19-year-old Zilisch from Charlotte, North Carolina, led five times for 20 of 82 scheduled laps. He bolted his way from starting in 17th place and raced upfront during the majority of the event. After strategically pitting before the first stage’s conclusion to cycle to the lead for the first time at the start of the second stage period, Zilisch swapped the lead with teammate Shane van Gisbergen during two restarts before the former prevailed to win the second stage.
Then, despite getting hit by van Gisbergen while pitting during the second stage’s break period and restarting within the top-15 mark to start the third and final stage period, Zilisch remained in contention until he strategically pitted under green with 26 laps remaining. While marching his way back to the front, he spent the event’s remainder reeling in on Jesse Love as Love was trying to stretch his low-fuel tank to win over Zilisch. During the final corner on the final lap, however, Love locked up his tires and went wide. This allowed Zilisch to overtake him and steal the victory amid a thrilling finish.
On-track qualifying, scheduled for early Saturday, was canceled due to rain. As a result, the event’s starting lineup was determined through a qualifying metric formula from the NASCAR rule book. From the formula, Rajah Caruth, who returns as the driver of the No. 88 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro entry that won last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway while being piloted by Kyle Larson, was awarded the pole position. He shared the front row with teammate Justin Allgaier.
Before the event, Sheldon Creed started at the rear of the field due to having his No. 00 Haas Factory Team Chevrolet Camaro entry repaired from damage sustained from a practice accident entering the Esses. Dean Thompson and Matt Wilson also dropped to the rear of the field due to respective changes of transmission and power steering/brakes made to their entries.
When the green flag waved and the event commenced, teammates Rajah Caruth and Justin Allgaier dueled for the lead through the frontstretch until Caruth locked his front tires entering the first turn. As a result, he went wide entering the first turn and forced Allgaier up and off the racing zone in the first turn. Amid the chaos, Sam Mayer snuck by both and assumed the lead through the Esses, the Back Straight and the Inner Loop “Bus Stop” Chicane. As the field behind jostled early for spots, Mayer proceeded to lead the remaining turns before he returned to the frontstretch and led the first lap over Allgaier, Brent Crews, Caruth and Brandon Jones, who followed suit, respectively.
Mayer retained the lead over the next two laps before Crews overtook him on the third lap when Mayer went wide in the first turn. With the lead in his possession, Crews extended his lead to a second during the fourth lap and he was scored as the leader by one-and-a-half seconds over Mayer at the fifth lap mark. Meanwhile, Allgaier trailed in third place by more than two seconds and teammate Connor Zilisch, who started 17th, bolted his way up to fourth place while Jesse Love was up in fifth place over Caruth, Shane van Gisbergen, Brandon Jones, Parker Retzlaff and Austin Hill, respectively. Meanwhile, Jeb Burton lost a lap to the leaders after he limped around the track slowly with a flat left-front tire while Patrick Staropoli blew an engine in Turn 11.
Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Crews continued to lead by three-and-a-half seconds over Mayer while Zilisch outdueled teammate Allgaier for third place. While Love retained fifth place, van Gisbergen was up to sixth place over Caruth, Jones, Retzlaff and Hill, while William Sawalich, Taylor Gray, Sammy Smith, Jeremy Clements, Ryan Sieg, Anthony Alfredo, Brennan Poole, Ross Chastain, Corey Day and Lavar Scott trailed in the top 20, respectively.
Just past Lap 15, Sawalich dropped off the pace due to a mechanical issue. As Sawalich plummeted below the leaderboard while trying to limp his entry to pit road, where he retired from competition, the event remained under green as Crews maintained a comfortable lead. Two laps later, teammates Zilisch and van Gisbergen, along with Gray, Sammy Smith, Poole and Carson Kvapil strategically pitted under green. The latter six were the only competitors to pit prior to pit road becoming inaccessible to the field to mark the conclusion of the first stage period, which occurred on Lap 18. At this time, Crews was leading by more than nine seconds over Mayer.
When the first stage period concluded on Lap 20, Crews cruised to his first O’Reilly career stage victory. Mayer trailed in second place by nine seconds while Allgaier, Love, Jones, Austin Hill, Caruth, Retzlaff, Ross Chastain and Ryan Sieg, all of whom trailed Crews by double digits, were scored in the top 10, respectively. By then, 27 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap while Zilisch and van Gisbergen, both of whom pitted a few laps ago, carved their way up to 18th and 19th, respectively.
Under the event’s first stage break period, a majority of the field led by Crews pitted while the rest led by Zilisch, van Gisbergen, Taylor Gray and Sammy Smith, all of whom short-pitted before the first stage’s conclusion, remained on the track.
The second stage period started on Lap 24 as Zilisch and van Gisbergen occupied the front row. At the start, both dueled for the lead through the frontstretch and they remained side-by-side entering the Esses until Zilisch motored ahead by the time the field reached the Back Straight. As the field behind jostled for spots, Zilisch retained the lead for a full lap as he led the next lap over van Gisbergen while Smith, Love and Crews pursued in the top five, respectively.
On Lap 25, the caution returned when Lavar Scott spun in the first turn while Jeremy Clements, woh slid sideways as he approached Scott, plowed into the tire barriers. As the event restarted three laps later, van Gisbergen dueled with Zilisch through the frontstretch before he used the preferred inside lane in the first turn to move ahead of Zilisch with the lead. Van Gisbergen maintained the lead for barely a full lap, where he led the next one, before Zilisch dueled and reassumed the lead entering the first turn.
During the Lap 33 mark, the caution returned when Lavar Scott was involved in a second incident of the event, with his latest occurrence being the driver spinning entering the frontstretch while trying to get beneath Will Rodgers. As a result, he then rear-ended his entry into the outside wall and knocked his rear bumper cover off. During this caution period, Caruth, Harrison Burton, Carson Kvapil, Blaine Perkins, Glen Reen and Kyle Sieg pitted while the rest, led by Zilisch, remained on the track.
With four laps remaining in the second stage period, the event restarted under green. At the start, Zilisch fended off van Gisbergen through the frontstretch and the first turn to retain the lead. While Zilisch muscled ahead, Crews overtook van Gisbergen for the runner-up spot as he tried to reel in Zilisch for the lead. With van Gisbergen, Allgaier and Love trailing in the top five, Zilisch led the next lap.
When the second stage period concluded on Lap 40, Zilisch, who had retained the lead since the previous restart, captured the stage victory over Crews. Van Gisbergen, Allgaier, Love, Gray, Hill, Mayer, Sammy Smith and Jones were scored in the top 10, respectively, while 32 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap.
During the event’s second stage break period, some led by Zilisch and van Gisbergen pitted while the rest led by Crews and including Love, Hill, Jones, Retzlaff, Day, Caruth, Harrison Burton, Carson Kvapil, Blaine Perkins, Kyle Sieg and Preston Pardus remained on the track. During the pit stops, van Gisbergen hit the right side of Zilisch’s entry while trying to exit his pit stall. The collision forced van Gisbergen to return to pit road for repairs while Zilisch, who was the first competitor to exit pit road, restarted within the top-15 mark.
With 38 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as Crews and Love occupied the front row. At the start, Crews motored away from the field through the frontstretch and he retained the lead through the first turn before he navigated his way through the Esses, the Back Straight and the Bus Stop with a steady advantage. While Hill navigated his way into the runner-up spot, teammate Love settled in third in front of Day, Jones and Retzlaff as Crews led the next lap.
Then, with 36 laps remaining, the caution returned when Sheldon Creed got knocked off the racing groove by Allgaier through the Bus Stop and briefly launched in the air after the front splitter of his entry dug through the grass. During this caution period, a majority of the field led by Crews remained on the track while some, including Austin Hill, Chastain, Retzlaff, Gray Love, Perkins, Austin Green and Ryan Ellis pitted.
The next restart with 32 laps remaining featured Crews rocketing away from Day, teammate Jones and the field through the frontstretch and the first turn before he pulled away by a large advantage through the Esses. Crews easily led the next lap ahead of Jones while Harrison Burton, Zilisch and Day trailed in the top five. As the event reached its final 30-lap mark, Crews, who was racing on fumes in terms of fuel mileage, extended his advantage to more than a second over Jones while Zilisch, Harrison Burton, Day, Caruth, Allgaier, Kvapil, Mayer and van Gisbergen were in the top 10.
With 26 laps remaining, Crews surrendered the lead to pit under green, though he endured a slow pit service and had a fire briefly spark while trying to get his car loaded with fuel. During his pit stops, Harrison Burton and Poole also pitted with Crews while Zilisch cycled to a two-second lead over Jones, moments before Zilisch and Jones pitted a lap later. This allowed van Gisbergen to lead by one-and-a-half seconds over Caruth with 25 laps remaining while Allgaier, Kvapil and Anthony Alfredo were in the top five.
With 23 laps remaining and as the top of fuel concerns continued to loom amongst the field, teammates Allgaier and Sammy Smith pitted under green with 23 laps remaining before van Gisbergen pitted from the lead. Caruth cycled to the lead before he pitted with 18 laps remaining. This allowed Love to cycle to the lead. As the latter led, Zilisch was mired in 12th while Crews was in 14th.
Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Love, who was racing on fumes with fuel, maintained the lead by more than three seconds over teammate Hill while Zilisch, who navigated up to third place but was posting faster lap times than Love, trailed by six-and-a-half seconds. Behind, Gray and Chastain were in the top five while Crews, who trailed Zilisch by eight seconds, was mired in sixth place.
Three laps later, Zilisch battled and overtook Hill for second place. By then, both trailed Love by more than three seconds. As Love approached lapped traffic, he maintained the lead by more than two seconds over a hard-charging Zilisch with five laps remaining. Meanwhile, Zilisch, who ran over the curbs thought the Bus Stop and nearly got loose, slightly damaged the right side of his front splitter through the grass. Amid the incident, Zilisch remained within striking distance of Love through every turn and straightaway as the laps dwindled.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Love remained in the lead by six-tenths of a second over Zilisch, who initially trailed Love by more than a second. Through the frontstretch, the first turn and the Esses, Zilisch had Love within his sight. After navigating through the Back Straight, he reeled in and nearly got close to Love’s rear bumper through the Bus Stop, but Love remained in defensive mode as he maintained the lead leading up to the final two turns.
Then, before the final turn, Love locked up the front tires as Zilisch reeled in close to Love’s rear bumper. This allowed Zilisch to get beneath Love and overtake him without making contact, entering the frontstretch. With Love unable to regain momentum, Zilisch motored away and claimed the checkered flag by two-tenths of a second over Love.
With the victory, Zilisch, who finished in the runner-up spot during Friday’s Craftsman Truck Series event at The Glen, collected his 13th O’Reilly Auto Parts Series career victory and his second to a part-time campaign in 2026 with JR Motorsports and the No. 1 Chevrolet team led by crew chief Rodney Childers. In addition, Zilisch became the first competitor to win at The Glen in the O’Reilly division for three consecutive years since Marcos Ambrose achieved the previous feat between 2008 and 2010.
Zilisch’s O’Reilly victory in 2026 was a redemptive moment for the North Carolina native amid a difficult Cup Series campaign, where. The victory was also redemptive as he exited through the top roof hatch to celebrate in Victory Lane. A year ago, he fell while standing alongside his window cell to celebrate in Victory Lane a year ago and broke his collarbone.
“That was [me] driving as hard as I could for all 30 of those laps,” Zilisch said in Victory Lane on the CW Network. “Just trying to make up that gap. I wasn’t gonna move Jesse in the last corner there, but he got in deep. 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 [JR Motorsports]. Cool to get it with [crew chief] Rodney [Childers]. It’s my third different crew chief here. It really means a lot to get another one here and get out of the car safely and make it onto the ground without trying to kill myself.”
Meanwhile, Love was left devastated on pit road after having a first victory of this season evaporate amid a final lap lockup.
“What a good mental challenge for me,” Love said. “All I want to do is beat Connor here. 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. As a driver, you can’t make those mistakes. It was such a bad mistake. It’s just embarrassing. I know that I’ll learn from this and be better because of it, but I let down a lot of people, including myself, most importantly. Maybe it’s probably a good idea for me to feel this pain right now.”
Taylor Gray finished in third place while Ross Chastain and Brandon Jones finished in the top five. Brent Crews, who led a race-high 32 laps, settled in sixth place while Parker Retzlaff, Shane van Gisbergen, Austin Green and Justin Allgaier completed the top 10 in the final running order.
There were 13 lead changes for six different leaders. The event featured five cautions for 13 laps. In addition, 25 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.
Following the 13th event of the 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series season, Justin Allgaier continues to lead the standings by 155 points over Sheldon Creed, 161 over Jesse Love, 207 over Brandon Jones and 218 over Corey Day.
Results:
- Connor Zilisch, 20 laps led, Stage 2 winner
- Jesse Love, 18 laps led
- Taylor Gray
- Ross Chastain
- Brandon Jones
- Brent Crews, 32 laps led, Stage 1 winner
- Parker Retzlaff
- Shane van Gisbergen, seven laps led
- Austin Green
- Justin Allgaier
- Austin Hill
- Rajah Caruth, two laps led
- Sam Mayer, three laps led
- Carson Kvapil
- Corey Day
- Sammy Smith
- Harrison Burton
- Brennan Poole
- Alex Labbe
- Will Rodgers
- Preston Pardus
- Josh Bilicki
- Ryan Sieg
- Anthony Alfredo
- Jeb Burton
- Blaine Perkins – OUT, Out of Fuel
- Lavar Scott – OUT, Out of Fuel
- Alex Guenette, one lap down
- Sheldon Creed, one lap down
- Glen Reen, one lap down
- Kyle Sieg, one lap down
- Derek White, four laps down
- Jeremy Clements, eight laps down
- Ryan Ellis – OUT, Suspension
- Dean Thompson – OUT, Transmission
- William Sawalich – OUT, Engine
- Matt Wilson – OUT, Accident
- Patrick Staropoli – OUT Engine
Next on the 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series schedule is the BetRivers 200 at Dover Motor Speedway in Dover, Delaware. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, May 16, and air at 4 p.m. ET on the CW Network, PRN and SiriusXM.
