NASCAR
Connor Zilisch tracks down best friend for NASCAR O’Reilly win at The Glen
By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service
WATKINS GLEN, NY (May 9, 2026) —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).
BROOKLYN, MI (June 6, 2026) – Kris Wright and the No. 81 McAnally Hilgemann Racing team a hoping for better days after a frustrating DQS Solutions & Staffing 250 powered by Precision Vehicle Logistics Saturday at Michigan International Speedway.
Wright started 27th in the No. 81 iHeart Radio Silverado RST on the 2-mile oval. The race was only 7-laps old when Wright was involved in an accident, causing him to lose a lap while his team made repairs.
Wright was quickly back on pit road on Lap 18 after a left rear tire issue required additional work by his crew. Wright returned to the race three laps down at that point.
“Brutal day for our iHeartRadio team,” said Wright. “The No. 81 crew worked hard all weekend to get speed in the truck, and we never really had the opportunity to show what we were capable of.”
Fuel-only pit stops during the races final stage enabled Wright and his team to finish 31st. Corey Heim was the race winner.
Fan favorite Cleetus McFarland, in only his second series start, rallied from a late race spin that brought out one of seven yellow flags – and finished 25th on the lead lap.
The trucks are off next week and will return to action June 19 in the inaugural NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Race in San Diego on the Naval Base Coronado (7 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
“I’m looking forward to getting to San Diego in a couple of weeks,” said Wright. “Road courses have always suited my driving style, and it’ll be special to spend the weekend in Coronado celebrating the military members who will be in attendance.”
By Holly Cain
NASCAR Wire Service
BROOKLYN, MI (June 6. 2026) – Reigning NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series champion Corey Heim held off a dramatic checkered flag charge – in lapped traffic – from his TRICON Garage teammate Kaden Honeycutt to claim his first career win at the iconic Michigan International Speedway in Saturday’s DQS Solutions & Staffing 250 powered by Precision Vehicle Logistics.
It’s Heim’s 26th career victory, but first ever on the two-mile Michigan high banks giving him series wins now on 22 different tracks – second best all-time only NASCAR Hall of Famer Ron Hornaday Jr. has won at 31 venues. It’s Heim’s third win in only five truck starts this season and comes a week after announcing he will join the championship-leading 23XI Racing organization in the NASCAR Cup Series for 2027.
Heim’s No. 1 TRICON Garage Toyota passed the day’s most dominant truck driven by NASCAR Cup Series regular Carson Hocevar with 15 laps remaining and crossed the line only .065-second ahead of Honeycutt’s No. 11 TRICON Garage Toyota – the truck Heim drove to the championship last season.
He immediately thanked Honeycutt for the push forward in the final laps – his only laps out front all day – acknowledging the help put just enough distance on Hocevar, who led a race best 65 of the 126 laps.
“We discussed it pre-race that we were going to race it out in the end and that’s what we did,” the 23-year-old Georgia native Heim said. “He tried to get to my right rear there which would have probably won the race and I had to protect it.
“Props to Kaden there and to [fellow Toyota driver] Christopher Bell, I don’t know where he ended up but he was strong all day. The last couple laps there at the end, were pretty awesome.
“That was a lot of fun, I had a blast,” he added.
The 21-year-old Honeycutt certainly kept Heim honest in the closing run to the checkered, hoping to earn his second career win – matching his work at Watkins Glen, N.Y. in May.
“Good race there at the end, us five up there and I’m sure it was a good race for the fans so that was good,” Honeycutt said. “It was unfortunate I didn’t get the win there. Just feel like I’ve lost too many of them on my part so I think that’s what bothers me the most.”
Although boosted by a strong showing all day at his “home track,” the Michigan-native Carson Hocevar was clearly disappointed with his finish, explaining his No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet truck had been overheating all day. He was hoping to win for the hometown crowd and especially for his mother, who is celebrating her birthday this weekend.
“Everyone did a good job,” he said, adding, “Just sucks we didn’t close it out there. Felt like I could have done a better job but don’t know what I could have done differently. Would like to see what I would have had full power.
“A lot of reasons to win here at Michigan.”
Front Row Motorsports teammates Chandler Smith and Layne Riggs rounded out the top-five – an especially valiant effort from Riggs, who went a lap down early after a pit stop issue. A winner in the previous two races, Riggs’ comeback to fifth place keeps him atop the championship standings by 26 over Honeycutt.
Bell finished sixth in the No. 62 Halmar Friesen Toyota after sweeping both stage wins and leading 37 laps – one of six race leaders on the afternoon. Fellow NASCAR Cup Series driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr was seventh, followed by Connor Mosack, Jake Garcia and Tyler Ankrum.
Fan favorite Cleetus McFarland rallied from a late race spin that brought out one of seven yellow flags – and finished 25th on the lead lap in only his second series start.
After six consecutive races, the trucks go into an off-week and will return to action June 19 in the inaugural NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Race at San Diego on the Naval Base Coronado (7 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
By Holly Cain
NASCAR Wire Service
LEBANON, TN – Call it victorious whiplash.
Race polesitter Denny Hamlin took the lead at the drop of the green flag – was penalized and re-set to last in the 38-car field for jumping that start – then rallied his way forward again in the ensuing 300 laps to be in front for the checkered flag of Sunday night’s NASCAR Cup Series Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway.
After a back-and-forth among teammates on a final restart with four laps remaining – featuring a three-wide last-lap challenge for the win among three Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas – Hamlin delivered the manufacturer its first victory at the 1.33-mile Nashville concrete oval, his No. 11 Toyota finishing a slight .115-second ahead of teammates Christopher Bell and Chase Briscoe.
“The 20 [Bell] and 19 [Briscoe] were battling so hard on that first corner it just let me get to the inside of the 20 at the first corner after the restart and from there, side-by-side with the 20,’’ Hamlin, 45, said describing the dramatic final laps that resulted in his 62nd career win.
“He [Bell] drove in so deep on that last lap into [turn] one that it just allowed me to barely clear off of [turn] two.
“What an unbelievable day starting first, going to last and then back to first.’’
For Bell, the close finish marked his second runner-up showing in as many weeks – simultaneously frustrating and encouraging. As with Hamlin, he recovered from an early race challenge – a pit stop miscue dropping his No 20 JGR Toyota from running among the top five to 30th place for a restart just before the finish of Stage 1.
“It was great racing, I hope the fans enjoyed that,’’ Bell said. “Just disappointed in myself, disappointed for my team. We brought a great race car and I didn’t get the job done.’’
The finish was certainly indicative of the close racing, important strategy calls and just flat-out team speed ultimately necessary to finally settle a race that featured a race record 31 lead changes among a record 15 drivers.
The race was delayed almost two hours because of weather, but when the action resumed, there was plenty of drama and intrigue.
The sold-out Nashville crowd issued a silent salute on lap eight to the late two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch, 41, a beloved four-time Nashville winner (twice each in the CRAFTSMAN Trucks and O’Reilly Auto Parts Series), who passed away last week of sepsis.
In the laps thereafter, the intense action quickly settled in. Hamlin’s 57 laps out front were a race high, but nine different drivers led double digit laps. And 11 caution flags affected strategy throughout the night.
Hyak Motorsports’ Ricky Stenhouse Jr finished fourth in the No. 47 Chevrolet, followed by a career-best fifth-place effort by Trackhouse Racing’s Shane van Gisbergen. The popular New Zealand road course ace turned in one of his best flag-to-flag oval performances running among the top 10 all night. His 12 laps led in the No. 97 Trackhouse Chevrolet were most for him on an oval track.
Reigning championship leader, 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick and Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott were scored sixth and seventh but were collected in an accident just after taking the checkered flag in a hard push by the field to the finish.
Last year’s race winner, Ryan Blaney was eighth followed by Zane Smith, whose No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford was leading until 12 laps to go. Spire Motorsports’ Carson Hocevar was 10th. Hendrick’s Kyle Larson – the reigning series champion – led 56 laps (only one lap less than Hamlin) but finished 23rd.
The race featured two first-time stage winners on the season – Kaulig Racing’s A.J. Allmendinger (Stage 1) and last week’s Charlotte race winner, Spire Motorsports’ Daniel Suárez (Stage 2).
With his sixth-place finish Reddick remains atop the standings, 97 points ahead of Hamlin and 174 points up on Blaney in third place.
The series moves a few hours north to Michigan Speedway for next Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 (3 p.m. ET, Amazon Prime, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Denny Hamlin is the defending race winner.
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