Bristol: Strategy Win & Pole
Connor Zilisch pulled off a late strategic call to win the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Bristol after staying out on a late caution and holding off Kyle Larson, who had led 230 of 300 laps. ( ) Meanwhile Ryan Blaney won the Cup Series pole and will start first for Sunday’s Food City 500, with the race scheduled to start at 3 p.m. ET on FS1. (nascar.com)
Connor Zilisch won Saturday night at Bristol by gambling on track position, not fresh tires, and then holding off Kyle Larson over the final restart. (nascar.com) Crew chief Rodney Childers kept Zilisch on older tires when a caution flew with 28 laps left in the 300-lap Suburban Propane 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Larson, who led 230 laps and swept the first two stages, restarted behind him and finished second. (nascar.com) The result flipped a race that had looked settled for most of the night. The Tennessean’s race report listed Zilisch first and Larson second in unofficial results after the late caution changed the order at the front. (tennessean.com) At Bristol, a half-mile concrete track, clean air and restart position can matter as much as tire advantage over a short closing run. Childers’ call bet that Larson would not have enough laps to clear Zilisch after the field stacked up behind the pace car. (nascar.com) The win also came in the ninth race of the 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series season, giving Zilisch another early-season result in a series NASCAR describes as its secondary national series. Bristol was the series’ Saturday-night stop in a three-series weekend at the Tennessee track. (nascar.com; nascar.com) Sunday’s headline is set at the front of the Cup Series field, where Ryan Blaney will start first in the Food City 500. Blaney won qualifying with a lap of 15.101 seconds at 127.064 miles per hour, edging Tyler Reddick by 0.023 seconds. (nascar.com) NASCAR’s qualifying recap said Blaney found the speed on his second of two laps in the No. 12 Team Penske Ford. Reddick will start alongside him in the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota as he chases his fifth win of the season. (nascar.com) The Cup race is scheduled for Sunday, April 12, at 3 p.m. Eastern on Fox Sports 1, with HBO Max, Performance Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio also listed in NASCAR’s event information. After Zilisch won with a late call on Saturday, Bristol’s next test is whether Blaney can turn one fast lap into 500 winning laps out front. (nascar.com)
