Zilisch grabs pole for NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Focused Health 250 at COTA

By Mike Haag, Raceday San Antonio

AUSTIN, Texas – Connor Zilisch won the pole position for the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Focused Health 250 during qualifying on Friday at Circuit of the Americas.

Zilisch, driving the No. 1 Roto Rooter Chevrolet for JR Motorsports, recorded a lap clocked at 97.74 seconds, 88.398 mph. It is his first pole of the season, 10th of his career and it will be his first top-10 start in 2026. This is his second pole in two races at COTA.

Shane van Gisbergen, who was second fastest with a 97.949, 88.209 mph lap, helped give JR Motorsports a front-row sweep. It will be his first top-10 start of 2026 and his second in two races at COTA.

Zilisch, who is a NASCAR Cup Series rookie with Trackhouse Racing, is returning to the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series this weekend for JR Motorsports. He will be joined by his Trackhouse Racing teammate van Gisbergen, who is also racing Saturday in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Series race.

Austin Hill of Richard Childress Racing  was third fastest and Brandon Jones of Joe Gibbs Racing was fourth and JR Motorsports Justin Allgaier grabbed fifth. It will be Hill’s second top-10 start at COTA and the second in three races this season.

Carson Kvapil, Brent Crews, Sam Meyer, Sheldon Creed and Sammy Smith rounded out the top-10 in qualifying.

Lavar Scott qualified 31^st  and was the fastest rookie in the field.

Zilisch will lead the 38-car field to the green flag on the 17-turn, 2.4 mile National Course for Saturday’s 65-lap Focused Health 250 beginning at 2 p.m. CT (TV: CW, Radio: PRN, SiriusXM).  The race card will also feature the IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge with a pair of 45-minute timed races, the first at 11:30 a.m. and finale at 5:30 p.m.