Zilisch Gets A Shot In The Arm With Bristol O'Reilly Win Over Larson

Up until Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway, it had been a season of frustration for 19-year-old Connor Zilisch. While he admits he never expected to collect wins out of the box during his rookie season in the NASCAR Cup Series, he also didn't expect to struggle as mightily as he has.

While he continues to try to get the momentum rolling on Sunday's, Zilisch got a much needed shot in the arm in Saturday night's NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series Suburban Propane 300.

"Yeah, man, that was awesome. It's been a tough past few weeks for me in the Cup Series. It feels good to come back down here into the O'Reilly Series and remember that I can still do it," Zilisch said. "It's tough, you finish in the back every week, and you forget who you are."

Kyle Larson, a two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, utterly dominated the race by leading 230 of the 300 laps on the night, however, a late-race caution with under 30 laps to go changed everything. Under the caution for a spinning Gray Gaulding, Larson went to pit road for fresh tires, while Zilisch, Brent Crews, and Corey Day stayed on track.

Larson would make quick work of Ryan Sieg, who took two tires, and Day, but the young pair of Zilisch and Crews were able to hold him at bay for several laps. Finally, Larson was able to get past Crews for the runner-up spot with seven laps remaining.

As Larson moved to second, Zilisch moved to the high side of the track to take away any chance of momentum for Larson. The move worked, as Larson struggled to get enough of a run to challenge Zilisch for the win, and with slip in Turns 3 and 4 with three laps to go, Zilisch was able to gain the breathing room he needed to cruise to the win, the 12th of his 39-race NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series career.

Now, Zilisch will look to parlay the win into a good run in Sunday's Food City 500.

Larson would hang on to finish second, and he wasn't too stressed out by the call by his crew chief Mardy Lindley, as he knows things could have been worse had he stayed out.

“Yeah, I mean, I don’t know. When we run as long as we did, it’s hard to stay out. And I was split, you know, I’m sure he was as well. And yeah, if I stay out, who knows how many people pit behind me,” Larson said. “Everybody might pit and then it looks potentially different, worse than second, potentially.”

Crews would cap off his impressive night with a third-place finish.

Justin Allgaier, the series points leader, finished fourth, and in doing so, took home the $100,000 Dash 4 Cash bonus, to bring his career earnings in the Dash 4 Cash program to $800,000. By scoring the top-five finish, Allgaier extended his series points lead to 130 points over Sheldon Creed.

Carson Kvapil would finish fifth ahead of Sheldon Creed, William Sawalich, Corey Day, Parker Retzlaff, and Taylor Gray.

Next up for the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series is the Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway on Satuerday, April 18. That race will be televised on The CW, with coverage set to kick off at 7:00 PM ET.

Suburban Propane 300 Race Results

1. 1-Connor Zilisch (i)
2. 88-Kyle Larson (S1) (S2) (i)
3. 19-Brent Crews (X) #
4. 7-Justin Allgaier
5. 9-Carson Kvapil
6. 00-Sheldon Creed
7. 18-William Sawalich
8. 17-Corey Day
9. 99-Parker Retzlaff
10. 54-Taylor Gray
11. 39-Ryan Sieg
12. 2-Jesse Love
13. 8-Sammy Smith
14. 32-Rajah Caruth
15. 51-Jeremy Clements
16. 27-Jeb Burton
17. 24-Harrison Burton
18. 44-Brennan Poole
19. 20-Brandon Jones
20. 41-Sam Mayer
21. 21-Austin Hill
22. 31-Blaine Perkins
23. 07-Josh Bilicki
24. 26-Dean Thompson
25. 28-Kyle Sieg
26. 5-JJ Yeley
27. 48-Patrick Staropoli #
28. 74-Gray Gaulding
29. 92-Josh Williams
30. 02-Ryan Ellis
31. 55-Joey Gase
32. 45-Lavar Scott #
33. 42-Logan Bearden
34. 35-Blake Lothian
35. 87-Austin Green
36. 96-Anthony Alfredo
37. 91-Mason Maggio
38. 0-Garrett Smithley

(S1) Stage 1 winner
(S2) Stage 2 winner
(X) Xfinity Fastest Lap
# Rookie of the Year contender
(i) Driver ineligible to score series points