It was an incredible finish to Saturday's NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Watkins Glen International. Defending series champion Jesse Love was stretching the fuel while Connor Zilisch was running him down on fresher tires.
Even after slicing through the mud and damaging his car, Zilisch ran Love down, passing him in the final corner on the final lap, snatching the win away for JR Motorsports.
Zilisch now has 13 career wins, and he has won the last three consecutive NASCAR O'Reilly races at The Glen.
Behind Zilisch and Love, Taylor Gray finished third, Ross Chastain fourth, and Brandon Jones fifth. Brent Crews, Parker Retzlaff, Shane van Gisbergen, Austin Green, and Justin Allgaier filled out the remainder of the top ten.
Love and Zilisch react to nail-biting finish
"When you really nickel and dime it, there's 100 small mistakes that let him get close, and at the end of the day, the glaring piece of it was that I had a bad corner," said Love, who was very despondent.
He later added: "What a good mental challenge for me. All I want to do is beat Connor here. We're best friends and we've caused each other a lot of pain. I didn't execute when I needed to. I think the reason I'm so quiet is that I'm just embarrassed. As a driver, you can't make those mistakes. It was such a bad mistake, and it's just embarrassing. I know I'll learn from this and be better because of it, but I let down a lot of people including myself. Maybe it's a good idea that I feel this pain right now."
And after falling from the car after last year's win at the Glen, Zilisch was much more careful climbing the from the car this time around.
"That was driving as hard as I could for all 30 of those laps, trying to make up that gap," said Zilisch. "I wasn't going to move Jesse in the last corner, but he got in deep and I was able to get by. It's so cool to come back and get my third win at Watkins Glen in a row with JRM. Cool to get it with Rodney [Childers] — it's my third different crew chief here. Really means a lot to get another one here, and get out of the car safely and make it onto the ground without trying to kill myself. It means a lot."
Stage 1
Caruth led the race from pole position after qualifying was rained out, but he ran wide into Turn 1 while battling side-by-side with Allgaier. This opened the door of Mayer, who later ran wide into Turn 1 as well, allowing Crews to move into the lead.
Patrick Staropoli went to the garage early with a blown engine, as did William Sawalich. Jeb Burton and Matt Wilson also faced early setbacks, damaging their cars.
Zilisch and Van Gisbergen were making big moves early after starting in the teens, with both reaching the top five within the first ten laps.
As expected, a handful of cars led by Zilisch and Caruth flipped the stage, pitting just before the scheduled caution.
Crews did not, staying out to win Stage 1 over Mayer, Allgaier, B. Jones, A. Hill, Caruth, Retzlaff, Chastain, and R. Sieg.
Stage 2
It was now JR Motorsports teammates Zilisch and Van Gisbergen on the front row, with Crews in the third row.
Lavar Scott went for a spin in Turn 1 and Jeremy Clements nosed his car into the tire pack, becoming stuck and forcing a caution.
On the restart, Van Gisbergen took the lead from Zilisch briefly before he took it back.
The next caution was for a bumper laying on the track after Scott went for another spin.
Zilisch went on to win the stage, barely holding on against Crews. They were followed by Crews, Van Gisbergen, Allgaier, Love, Love Tay. Gray, A. Hill, Mayer, S. Smith, and B. Jones.
Stage 3
In the pits, Van Gisbergen made contact with Zilisch exiting his pit stall, damaging the left-front fender and forcing him back down pit road.
A handful of cars stayed out with Crews leading. Creed ended up going through the mud at the exit of the bus stop chicane, going fully airborne as he drove through the muddy grass.
The RCR cars opted to pit along with a few others, aiming to potentially go all the way to the end.
With 26 to go, Crews pitted from the lead, followed by Zilisch soon after. SVG has fought his way back through the field and pitted from the lead with 20 to go.
Love was leading those on the alternate strategy, hoping to make it to the end without another stop. Just behind him was Ross Chastain, who hit a tire pack at Turn 1 and damaged his No. 32 Chevrolet.
The race remained green as Love led teammate Hill at the front of the field. Zilisch was about 15 seconds behind, and he rapidly cut down the margin.
After getting to within three seconds of him at the exit of the bus stop, Zilisch ended up getting into the mud and causing a tire rub. His pace slowed for a couple of laps, but he managed to get there on the white flag lap.
Love locked up at the entrance of the final corner and ran wide with Zilisch driving right on by.
Watkins Glen NASCAR O'Reilly Results
1
1
Connor Zilisch
Chevrolet
82
2:10'06.197
5
20
2
2
Jesse Love
Chevrolet
82
2:10'06.459
0.262
5
18
3
54
Taylor Gray
Toyota
82
2:10'19.798
13.601
5
4
32
Ross Chastain
Chevrolet
82
2:10'21.387
15.190
6
5
20
Brandon Jones
Toyota
82
2:10'22.877
16.680
5
6
19
Brent Crews
Toyota
82
2:10'26.235
20.038
5
32
7
99
Parker Retzlaff
Chevrolet
82
2:10'26.383
20.186
5
8
9
Shane van Gisbergen
Chevrolet
82
2:10'27.413
21.216
7
7
9
87
Austin Green
Chevrolet
82
2:10'28.094
21.897
6
10
7
Justin Allgaier
Chevrolet
82
2:10'28.119
21.922
6
11
21
Austin Hill
Chevrolet
82
2:10'30.071
23.874
4
12
88
Rajah Caruth
Chevrolet
82
2:10'32.101
25.904
6
2
13
41
Sam Mayer
Chevrolet
82
2:10'37.678
31.481
6
3
14
91
Carson Kvapil
Chevrolet
82
2:10'39.133
32.936
6
15
17
Corey Day
Chevrolet
82
2:10'41.677
35.480
5
16
8
Sammy Smith
Chevrolet
82
2:10'44.142
37.945
6
17
24
Harrison Burton
Toyota
82
2:10'44.513
38.316
6
18
44
Brennan Poole
Chevrolet
82
2:10'56.156
49.959
6
19
0
Alex Labbe
Chevrolet
82
2:11'00.420
54.223
6
20
42
Will Rodgers
Chevrolet
82
2:11'05.036
58.839
6
21
50
Preston Pardus
Chevrolet
82
2:11'09.167
1'02.970
6
22
07
Josh Bilicki
Chevrolet
82
2:11'11.629
1'05.432
6
23
39
Ryan Sieg
Chevrolet
82
2:11'13.924
1'07.727
7
24
96
Anthony Alfredo
Chevrolet
82
2:11'21.067
1'14.870
7
25
27
Jeb Burton
Chevrolet
82
2:11'32.351
1'26.154
6
26
31
Blaine Perkins
Chevrolet
81
2:09'22.590
1 Lap
5
Out of fuel
27
45
Lavar Scott
Chevrolet
81
2:09'49.586
1 Lap
7
Out of fuel
28
92
Alex Guenette
Chevrolet
81
2:10'21.198
1 Lap
6
29
00
Sheldon Creed
Chevrolet
81
2:10'27.534
1 Lap
8
30
55
Glen Reen
Toyota
81
2:10'36.229
1 Lap
9
31
28
Kyle Sieg
Chevrolet
81
2:10'43.710
1 Lap
7
32
53
Derek White
Chevrolet
78
2:10'09.631
4 Laps
10
33
51
Jeremy Clements
Chevrolet
74
2:10'13.403
8 Laps
9
34
02
Ryan Ellis
Chevrolet
72
1:59'17.148
10 Laps
9
Suspension
35
26
Dean Thompson
Toyota
54
1:35'40.222
28 Laps
9
Transmission
36
18
William Sawalich
Toyota
15
18'39.631
67 Laps
3
Engine
37
35
Matt Wilson
Chevrolet
5
6'46.017
77 Laps
3
Accident
38
48
Patrick Staropoli
Chevrolet
4
5'14.288
78 Laps
3
Engine
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