Connor Zilisch (pictured) kicked off his double-duty NASCAR weekend at Circuit of The Americas in style, claiming the pole position for the Focused Health 250 in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series during Friday’s qualifying session.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

The NASCAR Cup Series rookie, driving for Trackhouse Racing in the premier division, returned to the O’Reilly Series this weekend with JR Motorsports. He secured the pole for the team for the second straight year, posting a lap time of 97.740 seconds (88.398 mph) on the 17-turn, 2.4-mile National Course. That edged out his Trackhouse teammate Shane van Gisbergen—who is also competing for JR Motorsports this weekend—by 0.209 seconds (97.949 seconds, 88.209 mph).

“It’s fun to be back in these cars. Thanks to JR Motorsports for having me and Safety Culture. It’s really fun,” van Gisbergen said after his run. “They just move around so much. It’s really cool. My lap was good, but that little bugger is pretty quick. Hopefully we race him tomorrow. My long-run speed was good in the race runs we did in practice. Who knows? Up the front is a good place to start.”

Shane van Gisbergen in the #9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro at Circuit of the Americas during the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series practice

Zilisch will lead the 38-car field to the green flag for Saturday’s 65-lap race, which starts at 2 p.m. CT (TV: CW; Radio: PRN, SiriusXM). This marks his first pole of the season and the 10th of his career.

Earlier in the day, Zilisch posted the ninth-fastest time in practice but dealt with a tire puncture. “We had a bit of an issue in practice and cut a tire down,” he explained. “We made some adjustments on the front end to not do that again. The entire #1 crew—it’s great being with Rodney [Childers], having his experience, and everyone here in this JR Motorsports team. It’s been a lot of fun getting back with these guys in the O’Reilly car. I love coming back and racing these cars; they’re a ton of fun. We’ve got a fast Chevrolet for tomorrow. Looking forward to it. Busy weekend for me, but great way to start it.”

JR Motorsports dominated qualifying, claiming three of the top five spots and four of the top 10. Justin Allgaier qualified fifth (98.562 seconds, 87.661 mph), while Sammy Smith took 10th (98.863 seconds, 87.394 mph).

Austin Hill of Richard Childress Racing and Brandon Jones of Joe Gibbs Racing interrupted the JR Motorsports sweep by securing third and fourth, respectively. Hill, who won from the pole in the season opener at Daytona, turned a lap of 98.359 seconds (87.841 mph). Jones delivered his best qualifying effort of the year at 98.448 seconds (87.762 mph).

NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Circuit of the Americas, Qualifying

Pos
No.
Driver
Team
Time
Behind
Gap

1
1
Connor Zilisch(i)
Roto-Rooter Chevrolet
97.740
0.000
0.000

2
9
Shane Van Gisbergen(i)
Safety Culture Chevrolet
97.949
0.209
0.209

3
21
Austin Hill
Bennett Transportation Chevrolet
98.359
0.619
0.410

4
20
Brandon Jones
Menards/Fisher Toyota
98.448
0.708
0.089

5
7
Justin Allgaier
BRANDT Chevrolet
98.562
0.822
0.114

6
91
Carson Kvapil
Clarience Technologies Chevrolet
98.572
0.832
0.010

7
19
Brent Crews
Young Life Toyota
98.670
0.930
0.098

8
41
Sam Mayer
Charbroil Chevrolet
98.717
0.977
0.047

9
0
Sheldon Creed
Road Ranger Chevrolet
98.786
1.046
0.069

10
8
Sammy Smith
Pilot Chevrolet
98.863
1.123
0.077

11
2
Jesse Love
Whelen Chevrolet
98.887
1.147
0.024

12
17
Corey Day
HendrickCars.com Chevrolet
98.900
1.160
0.013

13
87
Austin Green
Peterson Racing Chevrolet
98.903
1.163
0.003

14
54
Taylor Gray
Operation 300 Toyota
99.021
1.281
0.118

15
18
William Sawalich
Soundgear Toyota
99.393
1.653
0.372

16
96
Anthony Alfredo
Protein Rice Treats Chevrolet
99.429
1.689
0.036

17
50
Preston Pardus
Chincor Electric Inc. Chevrolet
99.483
1.743
0.054

18
39
Ryan Sieg
SciAps/SIMS METAL Chevrolet
99.542
1.802
0.059

19
88
Rajah Caruth
HendrickCars.com Chevrolet
99.544
1.804
0.002

20
25
Nick Sanchez
Paynuity Ford
99.546
1.806
0.002

21
32
Ross Chastain(i)
GLF Environmental Chevrolet
99.586
1.846
0.040

22
55
Sage Karam
Point Blank Tequila Toyota
99.947
2.207
0.361

23
24
Harrison Burton
DEX/Sharp Toyota
100.024
2.284
0.077

24
31
Blaine Perkins
WERNER Chevrolet
100.140
2.400
0.116

25
7
Josh Bilicki
Circle B Diecast Chevrolet
100.145
2.405
0.005

26
44
Brennan Poole
Frontline Fire Protection Chevrolet
100.190
2.450
0.045

27
26
Dean Thompson
Thompson Pipe Group Toyota
100.241
2.501
0.051

28
0
Alex Labbe
Trophy Tractor Chevrolet
100.243
2.503
0.002

29
99
Parker Retzlaff
Viking Motorsports Chevrolet
100.431
2.691
0.188

30
51
Jeremy Clements
Alliance Driveway Solutions Chevrolet
100.462
2.722
0.031

31
45
Lavar Scott #
Urban Affairs Coalition Chevrolet
100.484
2.744
0.022

32
48
Patrick Staropoli
Syfovre Chevrolet
100.702
2.962
0.218