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Connor Zilisch wins Kyle Larson-dominated NASCAR O'Reilly race at Bristol

johnby: John Jamison04/12/26johndjamison

It looked like Kyle Larson’s race. The reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion dominated the great majority of the Suburban Propane 300, but a late strategy decision flipped the script and led to Connor Zilisch and his No. 1 JRM Chevy Camaro hanging on to win at Bristol.

After a bumpy start in his NASCAR Cup Series rookie season, it sounds like the win was much-needed for Zilisch. The 19-year-old driver opened up to The CW broadcast after his burnout.

“That was awesome. It’s been a tough past few weeks for me in the Cup Series, and feels good to come back down here into the O’Reilly Series and remember that I can still do it. It’s tough. You finish in the back every week, and you forget who you are,” Zilisch said. “But this feels good. We played strategy. Rodney made a great call to keep us out.”

In other news, Justin Allgaier once again claimed a Dash 4 Cash win. His P6 finish was enough to earn him a $100,000 payday. Not too shabby for finishing outside of the top 5.

Suburban Propane 300 at Bristol stage by stage

The Last Great Colosseum quickly claimed its first victim. During the opening lap of the race, Mason Maggio lost control and got sideways out of Turn 2. His spin brought out the first caution of the night. After the restart, the race settled down, and as the field spread out throughout Stage 1, the track became more competitive.

And competitive is where Kyle Larson thrives. The NASCAR Cup Series full-timer and reigning champion took the lead from pole sitter William Sawalich and didn’t look back. He easily kept himself out front to claim the Stage 1 win with Sheldon Creed in tow.

Stage 2 was more of the same. Larson was fast. It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, given his O’Reilly and Cup Series Bristol weekend sweep last season. But Connor Zilisch, in the midst of his rookie Cup Series season, found a return to 2025 O’Reilly form and a ton of speed on the long run to track down the leaders. Lapped traffic proved troublesome, however, as Justin Allgaier took advantage of the mire to take P3 from Zilisch with fewer than 10 laps to go in Stage 2.

Stage 3 saw Kyle Larson’s dominance and Connor Zilisch’s surge continue. But it also had its share of fireworks. Mason Maggio’s No. 91 seemingly blew an engine and burst into flames in a scary moment that brought the race to a brief halt. The race got back going, but a caution with 30 laps remaining threw a wrench into Kyle Larson and the No. 88 team’s plans. Larson chose to pit; Zilisch stayed out.

It looked like the right call for Zilisch on the restart. He got a good launch and drove away from the battle behind him. Larson struggled to break through, restarting from P4 after his pit stop. But with 18 laps remaining, NASCAR threw another caution for Anthony Alfredo getting into the wall. An epic battle ensued on the final restart. Connor Zilisch, Kyle Larson, and Brent Crews traded blows. But Connor Zilisch came out on top.