welcome race fans to krazyaboutracing.com the leader in motorsports coverage on the world wide web we are now in our 24th year

WE MAY NOT HAVE ALL THE WHISTLES & BELLS OF OTHER SITES , hOWEVER  have THE most complete MOTORSPORTS COVERAGE on the web !

(HOME)  (CONTACT US)  ( THE PIT )  (LOCAL RACING)   (PREVIOUS NEWS)  (PREVIOUS RACING)   (SITE NEWS)  (MEET THE STAFF)   (HALL OF FAME)  (MULTIMEDIA)   (SPECIAL EVENTS) (ANNUAL AWARDS)

 (DRIVER & TEAM RELEASES) (LOCAL TRACK NEWS) (MISC RELEASES)

 

   

   

 for more coverage on the series click on the series lOgo

  O'reilly auto parts series

 O'reilly auto parts series

   

www.nascar.com

Celebrating its 75th Anniversary in 2023, the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is the sanctioning body for the No. 1 form of motorsports in the United States and owner of 16 of the nation’s major motorsports entertainment facilities. NASCAR consists of three national series (NASCAR Cup Series™, NASCAR Xfinity Series™, and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series™), four regional series (ARCA Menards Series™, ARCA Menards Series East & West and the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour™), one local grassroots series (NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series™) and three international series (NASCAR Pinty’s Series™, NASCAR Mexico Series™, NASCAR Whelen Euro Series™). The International Motor Sports Association™ (IMSA®) governs the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship™, the premier U.S. sports car series. NASCAR also owns Motor Racing Network, Racing Electronics, and ONE DAYTONA. Based in Daytona Beach, Florida, with offices in eight cities across North America, NASCAR sanctions more than 1,200 races in more than 30 U.S. states, Canada, Mexico and Europe. For more information visit www.NASCAR.com and www.IMSA.com, and follow NASCAR on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat (‘NASCAR’).

 

Connor Zilisch makes late surge to O’Reilly Auto Parts Series win at Bristol

Matt Kelley/Getty Images

 

Reid Spencer

BRISTOL, Tenn. — Connor Zilisch rediscovered his identity on Saturday night — as a winner.

Thanks to a bold call from crew chief Rodney Childers, Zilisch stayed out on older tires with 28 laps left in the Suburban Propane 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway and took the checkered flag.

 Race results

With track position at the front of the field, Zilisch was able to hold off the dominant car of Kyle Larson, who had to settle for second place after leading 230 of 300 laps and sweeping the first two stages in the ninth NASCAR O‘Reilly Auto Parts race of the season.

For Zilisch, his first victory on a short track was a welcome respite from the struggles he has faced as rookie in the NASCAR Cup Series.

“That was awesome,” said Zilisch, the fourth different winner for JR Motorsports this season. “It‘s been a tough past two weeks for me in the Cup Series, and it feels good to come back down here into the O‘Reilly Series and prove that I can still do it.

“It‘s tough. You finish in the back every week and you forget who you are. This feels good. We played strategy. Rodney made a great call to keep us out. The tires weren‘t wearing much all night, and we were able to get our (No. 1) Roto-Rooter Chevrolet in the track position that I needed to go out and win the race.”

Zilisch picked up his first win of the season, his first at Bristol and the 12th of his career. He was one of four JRM drivers in the top five, a group that included Larson, Justin Allgaier (fourth) and Carson Kvapil (fifth). Joe Gibbs Racing driver Brent Crews crashed that party with a third-place finish on the same strategy that propelled Zilisch to the victory.

For the eighth time in his career, Allgaier collected a $100,000 bonus in the O‘Reilly Auto Parts Dash 4 Cash program as the highest finisher among four eligible drivers (the top four in last Saturday‘s race at Rockingham Speedway).

A three-time winner this year, Allgaier retained his series lead by 130 points over second-place Sheldon Creed, who ran sixth at Bristol.

Larson was leading with Allgaier in pursuit early in the final stage, when the engine in Mason Maggio‘s Chevrolet exploded on the backstretch, filling the “Last Great Coliseum” with smoke.

Maggio steered the car to pit road where it erupted in flames. Several of Allgaier‘s crew members helped pull Maggio from the car. The driver was uninjured.

But the fireworks were just starting. After the resumption from a three-minute, five-second red flag period, Larson dominated — until Gray Gaulding‘s spin in Turn 1 caused the seventh caution of the evening on Lap 270.

Zilisch, Crews and Corey Day stayed out on older tires, with Larson fourth on new rubber. Larson, Zilisch and Crews battled for position until the eighth caution for Anthony Alfredo‘s spin on the frontstretch slowed the race for the final time.

An intense battle for the lead followed the subsequent restart with 11 laps left. Larson passed Crews for second and harried Zilisch until his No. 88 Chevy slipped in Turn 4 with just over two laps left, giving Zilisch the margin he needed to win by 0.703 seconds.

The victory was Childers‘ first in the O‘Reilly Series, after a long and successful run as a Cup crew chief, predominantly with Kevin Harvick.

Larson enjoyed the battle, if not the outcome.

“It‘s a bummer, but I had a lot of fun tonight,” said Larson, who will race in Sunday‘s Food City 500 NASCAR Cup Series event (3 p.m. ET, FS1, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). “Our car was really good. Just tough being the leader in that situation of knowing to pit or not…

“But I‘m happy with the run. It just doesn‘t always work out.”

Pole winner William Sawalich was seventh, followed by Day, Parker Retzlaff and Taylor Gray. Day recorded his eighth straight top-10 finish.

The O’Reilly Auto Parts Series’ next race is scheduled Saturday, April 18, at Kansas Speedway (7 p.m. ET, The CW, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Note: Inspection in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series garage was completed without major issue, confirming Zilisch’s victory. The No. 44 Alpha Prime Racing Chevrolet that Brennan Poole drove to an 18th-place finish had one lug nut unsecured in a post-race check, which will result in loss of pit selection for the circuit’s next race.

 

 
 

 

    O'reilly auto parts series

2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Schedule

 

Round

Date

Track

Location

Race Name

Time (ET)

1

Sat., Feb. 14

Daytona International Speedway

Daytona Beach, FL

United Rentals 300

5:00 PM

2

Sat., Feb. 21

EchoPark Speedway

Braselton, GA

Bennett Transportation & Logistics 250

5:00 PM

3

Sat., Feb. 28

Circuit of The Americas

Austin, TX

Focused Health 250

3:00 PM

4

Sat., Mar. 7

Phoenix Raceway

Avondale, AZ

GOVX 200

7:30 PM

5

Sat., Mar. 14

Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Las Vegas, NV

The LiUNA NASCAR Xfinity Series

5:30 PM

6

Sat., Mar. 21

Darlington Raceway

Darlington, SC

Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help A Hero 200

5:30 PM

7

Sat., Mar. 28

Martinsville Speedway

Martinsville, VA

NFPA 250

3:30 PM

8

Sat., Apr. 4

Rockingham Speedway

Rockingham, NC

North Carolina Education Lottery 250

2:30 PM

9

Sat., Apr. 11

Bristol Motor Speedway

Bristol, TN

SciAps 300

7:30 PM

10

Sat., Apr. 18

Kansas Speedway

Kansas City, KS

Kansas Lottery 300

7:00 PM

11

Sat., Apr. 25

Talladega Superspeedway

Lincoln, AL

Ag-Pro 300

4:00 PM

12

Sat., May 2

Texas Motor Speedway

Fort Worth, TX

Andy’s Frozen Custard 300

3:30 PM

13

Sat., May 9

Watkins Glen International

Watkins Glen, NY

Mission 200 at The Glen

4:00 PM

14

Sat., May 16

Dover Motor Speedway

Dover, DE

BetRivers 200

4:00 PM

15

Sat., May 23

Charlotte Motor Speedway

Concord, NC

BetMGM 300

5:00 PM

16

Sat., May 30

Nashville Superspeedway

Lebanon, TN

Tennessee Lottery 250

7:30 PM

–

Sat., June 6

–

–

Off Week

–

17

Sat., June 13

Pocono Raceway

Long Pond, PA

Explore the Pocono Mountains 250

4:00 PM

18

Sat., June 20

Naval Base Coronado

Coronado, CA

N/A

5:00 PM

19

Sat., June 27

Sonoma Raceway

Sonoma, CA

Pit Boss/FoodMaxx 250

5:30 PM

20

Sat., July 4

Chicagoland Speedway

Joliet, IL

N/A

5:30 PM

21

Sat., July 11

EchoPark Speedway

Braselton, GA

Focused Health 250

7:00 PM

–

Sat., July 18

–

–

Off Week

–

22

Sat., July 25

Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Indianapolis, IN

Pennzoil 250

4:00 PM

–

Sat., Aug. 1

–

–

Off Week

–

23

Sat., Aug. 8

Iowa Speedway

Newton, IA

Hy-Vee Perks 250

5:00 PM

–

Sat., Aug. 15

–

–

Off Week

–

–

Sat., Aug. 22

–

–

Off Week

–

24

Fri., Aug. 28

Daytona International Speedway

Daytona Beach, FL

Wawa 250

7:30 PM

25

Sat., Sept. 5

Darlington Raceway

Darlington, SC

N/A

7:30 PM

26

Sat., Sept. 12

World Wide Technology Raceway

Madison, IL

Nu Way 200 Sauced by Blues Hog

7:30 PM

27

Fri., Sept. 18

Bristol Motor Speedway

Bristol, TN

Food City 300

7:30 PM

–

Sat., Sept. 26

–

–

Off Week

–

28

Sat., Oct. 3

Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Las Vegas, NV

Focused Health 302

7:30 PM

29

Sat., Oct. 10

Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL

Concord, NC

Blue Cross NC 250

4:00 PM

30

Sat., Oct. 17

Phoenix Raceway

Avondale, AZ

N/A

7:30 PM

31

Sat., Oct. 24

Talladega Superspeedway

Lincoln, AL

The Progress Group 250

3:30 PM

32

Sat., Oct. 31

Martinsville Speedway

Martinsville, VA

IAA and Ritchie Bros. 250

4:00 PM

33

Sat., Nov. 7

Homestead-Miami Speedway

Homestead, FL

O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Championship

5:00 PM
 

 Copyright 2002- 2026 Motorsportsgarage productions

no part of site site can be copied or duplicated without written permission from Motorsportsgarage productions

all logos and images are copyrighted to the racing series and used for editorial purposes only

   

         

 

  

follow up on

This site is dedicated to my father " hoot " who introduced me to the Great sport of auto racing when I was a very young child

Thru the years I have befriended several people Thru Racing that have passed on and I honor them here

Larrt Criss. Charlie Patterson. Carrol Horton, Todd shaffer, gary lee and Judy Morris