It was not easy, but Connor Zilisch completed the Watkins Glen three-peat.
Zilisch won his third straight NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Watkins Glen International on Saturday (May 9) after he made a pass for the lead on Jesse Love in the last turn of the race.
“I wasn’t going to move Jesse in the last corner there but he got in deep and I was able to get by.” Zilisch told The CW broadcast in victory lane. “It’s so cool to come back and get my third win at Watkins Glen in a row.”
It looked like Zilisch was going to get to Love easily with Love saving fuel and Zilisch pushing it full speed, but after he hit the grass in the closing laps at the end of the bus stop, it got way more challenging for Zilisch to chase Love down but he got it done in the end.
“I had a bad corner.” Love said on pit road to The CW broadcast postrace. “It was definitely a challenge but good experience for me, I’ve never saved fuel before on a road course.”
Behind Zilisch and Love, Taylor Gray finished third, Ross Chastain finished fourth, and Brandon Jones completed the top five. Brent Crews, the stage one winner, finished sixth, while Parker Retzlaff, Shane van Gisbergen, Austin Green, and Justin Allgaier rounded out the top 10 finishers.
Zilisch also won the second stage of the race before winning his second race of the season in the O’Reilly Series and his seventh career road course win in the series.
During the second stage break, Zilisch and van Gisbergen made contact with each other while leaving pit road. This contact damaged the left front of van Gisbergen’s car but he rebounded to grab a top 10 finish.
Justin Allgaier opened his points lead up to 155 point margin over Sheldon Creed, who finished 29th after getting damage in the wet grass after colliding with Allgaier.
Crews moved into a Chase spot despite missing four races earlier this season before turning 18. He has finished in the top five in four straight races. This pushed his teammate William Sawalich out of The Chase after his day ended earlier due to an engine failure.
NOAPS Watkins Glen Results
The NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series will return to action for the 14th race of the season on Saturday, May 16, at Dover Motor Speedway at 4 p.m. ET. Coverage of this race will be broadcast on The CW.
Michael Bellifemini joined Frontstretch in February 2026 as a contributor. Bellifemini was born and raised in New Jersey and graduated from Seton Hall University. He called Seton Hall men's and women's basketball games for their college radio station, 89.5 FM WSOU, and continues to broadcast in the area. Outside of covering NASCAR, Bellifemini is also an avid baseball, football, basketball, and hockey fan and enjoys watching different sports leagues on a daily basis.