Zilisch, van Gisbergen set front row for the Focused Health 250 at COTA

AUSTIN, Texas — Welcome back to the Connor Zilisch and Shane van Gisbergen show!

This time its Zilisch who strikes first as he takes the NASCAR O’Reilly Series pole for the Focused Health 250 at COTA.

NASCAR split the field into two groups for a single-round, 20-minute qualifying session each. After the sessions, the times were combined to set the lineup.

When the dust settled, Zilisch and van Gisbergen stood alone at the top as the only two drivers to dip under 98 seconds.

Zilisch becomes the youngest driver in O’Reilly Series history to ten poles after cutting a right-front tire in practice.

Now he returns to COTA aiming to defend his 2025 victory and stretch his road course win streak to five straight in the series.

His teammate SVG stands in his way of accomplishing that feat. The second-placed starter shared his pleasure of the speed of JRM and at the overall speed of “That little bugger (Zilisch)”.

While the faster bugger Zilisch quipped back at him calling him “quick ole’ bugger (van Gisbergen)” for qualifying on the front row alongside him.

Austin Hill(98.359), Brandon Jones(98.448), and Justin Allgaier(98.562) put up impressive times to round out the top five starting positions.

Carson Kvapil(98.572) starts his first of four races in the No. 91 for DGM Racing in sixth.

17-year-old Brent Crews(98.670) will make his O’Reilly Series debut in seventh after a much improved lap time compared to practice.

Then teammates Sam Mayer(98.717) and Sheldon Creed(98.786) slot in eighth and ninth while Sammy Smith(98.863) concludes the top ten.

40 entered for 38 total starting spots which meant Mazda MX5 Cup driver Tyler Gonzalez and series regular Josh Williams failed to qualify.

Below is the full starting lineup for the Focused Health 250 at COTA.

Starting Lineup

1. Connor Zilisch(i): 97.740
2. Shane van Gisbergen(i): 97.949
3. Austin Hill: 98.359
4. Brandon Jones: 98.448
5. Justin Allgaier: 98.562
6. Carson Kvapil: 98.572
7. Brent Crews: 98.670
8. Sam Mayer: 98.717
9. Sheldon Creed: 98.786
10. Sammy Smith: 98.863
11. Jesse Love: 98.887
12. Corey Day: 98.900
13. Austin Green: 98.903
14. Taylor Gray: 99.021
15. Anthony Alfredo: 99.429
16. William Sawalich: 99.482
17. Preston Pardus: 99.483
18. Ryan Sieg: 99.542
19. Rajah Caruth: 99.544
20. Nick Sanchez: 99.546
21. Ross Chastain(i): 99.586
22. Harrison Burton: 100.024
23. Blaine Perkins: 100.140
24. Josh Bilicki: 100.145
25. Sage Karam: 100.174
26. Brennan Poole: 100.190
27. Dean Thompson: 100.241
28. Alex Labbe: 100.243
29. Parker Retzlaff: 100.431
30. Jeremy Clements: 100.462
31. Lavar Scott: 100.682
32. Patrick Staropoli: 100.741
33. Ryan Ellis: 100.755
34. Jeb Burton: 101.010
35. Kyle Sieg: 101.176
36. JJ Yeley: 101.821
37. Baltazar Leguizamon: 102.536
38. Austin J. Hill – No Time

DNQ – Tyler Gonzalez (102.020) & Josh Williams (100.787)