Connor Zilisch takes dramatic NASCAR O'Reilly win with last-corner pass at Watkins Glen

It was an incredible finish to Saturday’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Watkins Glen International. Defending series champion Jesse Love was stretching the fuel while Connor Zilisch was running him down on fresher tires.

Even after slicing through the mud and damaging his car, Zilisch ran Love down, passing him in the final corner on the final lap, snatching the win away for JR Motorsports.

Zilisch now has 13 career wins, and he has won the last three consecutive NASCAR O’Reilly races at The Glen.

Behind Zilisch and Love, Taylor Gray finished third, Ross Chastain fourth, and Brandon Jones fifth. Brent Crews, Parker Retzlaff, Shane van Gisbergen, Austin Green, and Justin Allgaier filled out the remainder of the top ten.

Love and Zilisch react to nail-biting finish

“When you really nickel and dime it, there’s 100 small mistakes that let him get close, and at the end of the day, the glaring piece of it was that I had a bad corner,” said Love, who was very despondent.

He later added: “What a good mental challenge for me. 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 that I’m just embarrassed. As a driver, you can’t make those mistakes. It was such a bad mistake, and it’s just embarrassing. I know I’ll learn from this and be better because of it, but I let down a lot of people including myself. Maybe it’s a good idea that I feel this pain right now.”

And after falling from the car after last year’s win at the Glen, Zilisch was much more careful climbing the from the car this time around.

“That was driving as hard as I could for all 30 of those laps, trying to make up that gap,” said Zilisch. “I wasn’t going to move Jesse in the last corner, 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] — it’s my third different crew chief here. 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. It means a lot.”

Stage 1

Caruth led the race from pole position after qualifying was rained out, but he ran wide into Turn 1 while battling side-by-side with Allgaier. This opened the door of Mayer, who later ran wide into Turn 1 as well, allowing Crews to move into the lead.

Patrick Staropoli went to the garage early with a blown engine, as did William Sawalich. Jeb Burton and Matt Wilson also faced early setbacks, damaging their cars.

Zilisch and Van Gisbergen were making big moves early after starting in the teens, with both reaching the top five within the first ten laps.

As expected, a handful of cars led by Zilisch and Caruth flipped the stage, pitting just before the scheduled caution.

Crews did not, staying out to win Stage 1 over Mayer, Allgaier, B. Jones, A. Hill, Caruth, Retzlaff, Chastain, and R. Sieg.

Stage 2

It was now JR Motorsports teammates Zilisch and Van Gisbergen on the front row, with Crews in the third row.

Lavar Scott went for a spin in Turn 1 and Jeremy Clements nosed his car into the tire pack, becoming stuck and forcing a caution.

On the restart, Van Gisbergen took the lead from Zilisch briefly before he took it back.

The next caution was for a bumper laying on the track after Scott went for another spin.

Zilisch went on to win the stage, barely holding on against Crews. They were followed by Crews, Van Gisbergen, Allgaier, Love, Love Tay. Gray, A. Hill, Mayer, S. Smith, and B. Jones.

Stage 3

In the pits, Van Gisbergen made contact with Zilisch exiting his pit stall, damaging the left-front fender and forcing him back down pit road.

A handful of cars stayed out with Crews leading. Creed ended up going through the mud at the exit of the bus stop chicane, going fully airborne as he drove through the muddy grass.

The RCR cars opted to pit along with a few others, aiming to potentially go all the way to the end.

With 26 to go, Crews pitted from the lead, followed by Zilisch soon after. SVG has fought his way back through the field and pitted from the lead with 20 to go.

Love was leading those on the alternate strategy, hoping to make it to the end without another stop. Just behind him was Ross Chastain, who hit a tire pack at Turn 1 and damaged his No. 32 Chevrolet.

The race remained green as Love led teammate Hill at the front of the field. Zilisch was about 15 seconds behind, and he rapidly cut down the margin.

After getting to within three seconds of him at the exit of the bus stop, Zilisch ended up getting into the mud and causing a tire rub. His pace slowed for a couple of laps, but he managed to get there on the white flag lap.

Love locked up at the entrance of the final corner and ran wide with Zilisch driving right on by.

Watkins Glen NASCAR O’Reilly Results

1	1	Connor Zilisch	Chevrolet	82	2:10’06.197		5	20
2	2	Jesse Love	Chevrolet	82	2:10’06.459	0.262	5	18
3	54	Taylor Gray	Toyota	82	2:10’19.798	13.601	5
4	32	Ross Chastain	Chevrolet	82	2:10’21.387	15.190	6
5	20	Brandon Jones	Toyota	82	2:10’22.877	16.680	5
6	19	Brent Crews	Toyota	82	2:10’26.235	20.038	5	32
7	99	Parker Retzlaff	Chevrolet	82	2:10’26.383	20.186	5
8	9	Shane van Gisbergen	Chevrolet	82	2:10’27.413	21.216	7	7
9	87	Austin Green	Chevrolet	82	2:10’28.094	21.897	6
10	7	Justin Allgaier	Chevrolet	82	2:10’28.119	21.922	6
11	21	Austin Hill	Chevrolet	82	2:10’30.071	23.874	4
12	88	Rajah Caruth	Chevrolet	82	2:10’32.101	25.904	6	2
13	41	Sam Mayer	Chevrolet	82	2:10’37.678	31.481	6	3
14	91	Carson Kvapil	Chevrolet	82	2:10’39.133	32.936	6
15	17	Corey Day	Chevrolet	82	2:10’41.677	35.480	5
16	8	Sammy Smith	Chevrolet	82	2:10’44.142	37.945	6
17	24	Harrison Burton	Toyota	82	2:10’44.513	38.316	6
18	44	Brennan Poole	Chevrolet	82	2:10’56.156	49.959	6
19	0	Alex Labbe	Chevrolet	82	2:11’00.420	54.223	6
20	42	Will Rodgers	Chevrolet	82	2:11’05.036	58.839	6
21	50	Preston Pardus	Chevrolet	82	2:11’09.167	1’02.970	6
22	07	Josh Bilicki	Chevrolet	82	2:11’11.629	1’05.432	6
23	39	Ryan Sieg	Chevrolet	82	2:11’13.924	1’07.727	7
24	96	Anthony Alfredo	Chevrolet	82	2:11’21.067	1’14.870	7
25	27	Jeb Burton	Chevrolet	82	2:11’32.351	1’26.154	6
26	31	Blaine Perkins	Chevrolet	81	2:09’22.590	1 Lap	5		Out of fuel
27	45	Lavar Scott	Chevrolet	81	2:09’49.586	1 Lap	7		Out of fuel
28	92	Alex Guenette	Chevrolet	81	2:10’21.198	1 Lap	6
29	00	Sheldon Creed	Chevrolet	81	2:10’27.534	1 Lap	8
30	55	Glen Reen	Toyota	81	2:10’36.229	1 Lap	9
31	28	Kyle Sieg	Chevrolet	81	2:10’43.710	1 Lap	7
32	53	Derek White	Chevrolet	78	2:10’09.631	4 Laps	10
33	51	Jeremy Clements	Chevrolet	74	2:10’13.403	8 Laps	9
34	02	Ryan Ellis	Chevrolet	72	1:59’17.148	10 Laps	9		Suspension
35	26	Dean Thompson	Toyota	54	1:35’40.222	28 Laps	9		Transmission
36	18	William Sawalich	Toyota	15	18’39.631	67 Laps	3		Engine
37	35	Matt Wilson	Chevrolet	5	6’46.017	77 Laps	3		Accident
38	48	Patrick Staropoli	Chevrolet	4	5’14.288	78 Laps	3		Engine

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