TC Daily Pit Stop: Connor Zilisch Gets Confidence Boost In Beating Larson For O'Reilly Win At Bristol; Blaney On Food City 500 Pole
TC Daily Pit Stop: Sunday, April 12, 2026
Zilisch Outduels Larson On Older Tires To Win O’Reilly Race At Bristol
Connor Zilisch has had a less-than-stellar start to his NASCAR Cup Series rookie season. Even one of the hottest prospects in NASCAR history can have their confidence wane under these circumstances.
Zilisch got just what the doctor ordered with a confidence-building win in Saturday night’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Suburban Propane 300 at Bristol, as he topped Kyle Larson, the race’s dominant driver, for the victory.
“Yeah, man, that was awesome. It’s been a tough past few weeks for me in the Cup Series. It feels good to come back down here into the O’Reilly Series and remember that I can still do it,” Zilisch said. “It’s tough, you finish in the back every week, and you forget who you are.”
Zilisch’s crew chief, Rodney Childers, made a strategy call on a caution with under 30 laps to go, and kept his 19-year-old driver on track with older tires, while Larson, who had led 230 laps on the night, was among a large contingent of drivers that came to pit road.
While Larson got back to Zilisch, he slid up the track with three laps to go, and Zilisch cruised to the win.
Brent Crews would finish third behind Zilisch and Larson.
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OFFICIAL RACE RESULTS
Ryan Blaney Shakes Off Loose Lap 1 To Take Food City 500 Pole
Ryan Blaney slipped up badly in Turns 1 and 2 on the opening lap of his qualifying run on Saturday at Bristol Motor Speedway, but the Team Penske driver didn’t let that get into his head. He refocused and turned a blistering second lap, which allowed him to top Tyler Reddick for the pole position in Sunday’s Food City 500.
“Yeah, just kind of got free [on] Lap 1, landing into 1, and then, it was just kind of like, alright gather yourself up back up for [Turns] 3 and 4 to try to get a second lap,” Blaney explained. “Luckily, the rear tires came in better the second lap in [Turns] 1 and 2, and then 3 and 4, I thought was a really good corner. Really great job by the whole 12 boys.”
Chase Briscoe will start third, and Riley Herbst will join him on the outside of Row 2, in what was a career-best fourth-place qualifying run.
Ty Gibbs, Ross Chastain, Chris Buescher, Kyle Larson, Austin Cindric, and Carson Hocevar rounded out the top-10 qualifiers for Sunday’s race.
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OFFICIAL STARTING LINEUP
Alex Bowman Gets a Second Chance After Thinking Career Was Over
In a media availability at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday, Alex Bowman finally got the chance to open up about the vertigo symptoms he experienced in the car at Circuit of the Americas, which led to him sitting out of four NASCAR Cup Series races.
Bowman said he experienced dizziness and nausea inside the car at COTA, and admitted that he felt when he exited the race early at COTA that his career was likely over.
“I mean, honestly, yeah," Bowman answered when pressed on if he thought he was close to not racing again, "when I got out at COTA, I was like, this is probably it. That was what was going through my head. So, yeah, that sucked, and I'm thankful that I got another shot at it.”
Bowman credits a lot of time with a lot of doctors for allowing him a second chance at his NASCAR Cup Series driving career, and he is set for 500 laps around the ultra-fast, high-banked Bristol Motor Speedway on Sunday. Not exactly the best recipe for someone coming off of a bout with vertigo.
"Yeah, it's probably the worst place possible to come back to," Bowman stated. "You know, I think not just from it’s physical, but it's a track that is extremely difficult. The margins from the front to the back of the field are tiny."
Bowman says ultimately, he’s a racer, and if his medical team tells him it’s safe to compete, he’s going to race. Bowman will start from the 27th position in Sunday’s Food City 500 at Bristol.