Shane van Gisbergen delivered another masterclass on a road course on Feb. 28, charging from sixth to first on a late restart to win the Focused Health 250 at Circuit of the Americas.
With five laps remaining, van Gisbergen dove to the inside entering turn 1 and executed a bold four-wide move that instantly reshuffled the race. As then-leader Sam Mayer drifted wide, the inside lane opened just enough for van Gisbergen to seize control. From there, he pulled away to secure his fifth career NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series victory, beating Austin Hill by 0.780 seconds.
Van Gisbergen led five times for 31 laps in a race marked by heavy contact and strategy swings. The win was his first at COTA in the series and extended JR Motorsports’ dominance on road courses.
Hill finished second for the third time in five starts at the 2.4-mile circuit, while Sammy Smith claimed third. Jesse Love and Corey Day completed the top five.
Connor Zilisch, who started on the pole and led 12 laps in stage one, appeared poised to contend before brake issues forced him deep into the field. After restarting 29th in the final stage, the 19-year-old charged back into the top five. However, contact with Day in the closing laps sent Zilisch spinning and relegated him to a 21st-place finish.
Seventeen-year-old Brent Crews impressed in his series debut, finishing sixth after briefly taking the lead during a stage two restart. William Sawalich, Justin Allgaier, Ross Chastain and Brennan Poole rounded out the top 10.
In the end, it was van Gisbergen’s decisive restart move that defined the day, another reminder that when the series turns right, he remains the driver to beat.
The Winners
When there’s a late restart on a road course, the field already knows what’s coming … they just can’t seem to stop it.
Van Gisbergen’s four-wide charge into turn 1 with five laps to go was the kind of move only a driver completely confident in his braking zone would attempt. Restarting sixth and diving to the inside, he turned chaos into control, clearing the field in one corner and driving away.
That’s road-course instinct at its highest level.
He led 31 laps, including the five that mattered most, and delivered JR Motorsports its 10th consecutive road-course victory. The most impressive part? It looked routine. In a race filled with contact, mistakes and attrition, van Gisbergen called it a “pretty flawless day.”
That’s the separation. Others survive road courses. SVG dictates them.
If a race features multiple right-hand turns, and Shane van Gisbergen enters that week’s race, everyone might just be racing for second.
As for a “gold star driver of the week,” there really isnt anyone in the field who holds a candle to Brent Crews.
Seventeen years old. Series debut. Leads laps. Finishes sixth.
That’s how you introduce yourself.
Crews didn’t just ride around and capitalize on chaos, he took the lead on the stage two restart and became the first driver under 18 to lead laps in the series since 1998.
The Losers
Another top-five finish should feel like validation. Instead, Corey Day leaves Circuit of the Americas with a reputation question hanging over him.
For the second straight week, Day found himself at the center of controversy. After drawing frustration from Ryan Sieg at EchoPark Speedway, Day’s late-race contact with Connor Zilisch at COTA erased one of the most impressive comeback drives of the afternoon. Zilisch had rallied from 29th after brake issues and was battling for fourth when contact sent him spinning.
Was there damage on Day’s car? Yes. Was the move intentional? No. But in this series, results matter, and so does perception.
Day clearly has speed. Back-to-back top fives prove that. Few drivers with his limited asphalt experience would be running this well this quickly. The raw talent is undeniable.
What’s becoming concerning is the pattern.
At this level, drivers are judged less on excuses and more on outcomes. When incidents stack up, the garage takes notice. Veterans don’t extend unlimited grace. Competitors remember who races them clean, and who doesn’t.
Day has openly said this isn’t the image he wants. That self-awareness is important. But growth in this series isn’t measured by speed alone. It’s measured by decision-making in the closing laps, by spatial awareness in tight battles, and by finishing races without leaving rivals frustrated.
The encouraging part? Redemption in NASCAR comes fast. Another race is always a week away.
Day has proven he can run near the front.
Now he has to prove he can stay there without controversy following him.
Fuel for Thought
If you want to understand Chevrolet’s early grip on the 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series season, look at the entry numbers at Circuit of the Americas.
The Focused Health 250 featured 40 cars. Of those, 30 were Chevrolets, compared to just six Toyotas and four Fords.
That means 75% of the field carried a bowtie.
Through three races, Daytona, EchoPark and COTA, all three winners have driven Chevrolets. While that speaks to performance, it also reflects simple probability.
When three-quarters of the grid comes from one manufacturer, the odds of that brand landing in victory lane increase dramatically before the green flag even waves.
We will have to wait and see if Toyota and Ford can bring anything to the table in 2026.
Paint Scheme of the Week
Maybe it’s because he’s a fan favorite. Maybe because it always caught my eye during the TV coverage, but Anthony Alfredo’s No. 96 Protein Rice Treats ride was hard to miss.
Where to Next?
The NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series heads west for the first of two West Coast races, as the future stars of NASCAR head to Phoenix Raceway for the GOVX 200 on Saturday, March 7 at 7:30 p.m. ET on The CW.
It’s a shame Zilisch had car troubles, or he never would have been back in the pack to get wiped out by the rolling weapon that is Corey Day. Would have been a fun shootout between Zilisch and SVG. Still, genuinely enjoy seeing SVG excel.
Most of all, was nice to see a race that wasn’t won by random luck on the last lap. It wasn’t as engaging as the truck race, but still worlds better than most modern NASCAR races. A world class driver in a world class car earned the win.
It seems Corey Day is in well over his head. Weeks he DOESN’T wreck someone (or himself) are the exception, and unlike Carson Hocevar, the vast majority of Day’s altercations are due to a basic lack of car control, not an excess of aggressiveness.
Enough of the Conor Zilisch hero worship and trash talking of Corey Day. Last year Conor cried like a baby that Shane passed him in Chicago. So to get payback at Watkins Glen he RR hooked Shane into the wall. All the while TV backed up the move because Shane broke one of the top rules in NASCAR. Apparently the rule says if a competitor misses the turns and runs off track you must slow down and waive him back on track in front of you. That rule was never before mentioned or enforced. Conor made it into racing on his knees and he is still on his knees. What Corey did was awesome, hope to see much more of it.