NASCAR News: Conor Zilisch wins Xfinity pole at COTA
Connor Zilisch of the Mooresville, N.C. secured the Focused Health 250 NASCAR Xfinity pole position after turning a hot qualifying lap of 88.832 mph at the Circuit of The Americas on Friday. Zilisch edged runner-up Ross Chastain by 0.184 seconds.
It was Zilisch’s second career pole in six starts. The 18-year-old JR Motorsports prospect also paced the practice field by nearly a half-second over Jesse Love. Zilisch, who is looking to become the youngest winner in NASCAR Cup Series history, was flawless in practice and qualifying for Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series Focused Health 250 at COTA.
Zilisch paced both sessions in the No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet. After cranking out a lap time of 1 minute, and 37.262 seconds in qualifying, the North Carolina native secured his second career NASCAR Xfinity Series pole position, which comes in just his seventh career start.
Zilisch, who won during his first Xfinity Series start at Watkins Glen last season, will make his Cup Series debut at the 2.4-mile oval Sunday.
COTA Xfinity Qualifying Results
| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Time | Speed |
| 1 | 88 | Connor Zilisch # | WeatherTech Chevrolet | 97.262 | 88.832 |
| 2 | 9 | Ross Chastain(i) | Acceptance Insurance Chevrolet | 97.446 | 88.664 |
| 3 | 17 | William Byron(i) | HendrickCars.com Chevrolet | 98.236 | 87.951 |
| 4 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | BRANDT/Rev1 Energy Chevrolet | 98.390 | 87.814 |
| 5 | 1 | Carson Kvapil # | Bass Pro Shops/Clarience Tech Chevrolet | 98.485 | 87.729 |
| 6 | 24 | Corey Heim(i) | Upper Deck Toyota | 98.540 | 87.680 |
| 7 | 54 | Taylor Gray # | Operation 300 Toyota | 98.564 | 87.659 |
| 8 | 41 | Sam Mayer | Audibel Ford | 98.603 | 87.624 |
| 9 | 19 | Riley Herbst(i) | Monster Energy Toyota | 98.613 | 87.615 |
| 10 | 16 | Christian Eckes # | Celsius Chevrolet | 98.742 | 87.501 |
| 11 | 2 | Jesse Love | Whelen Chevrolet | 98.841 | 87.413 |
| 12 | 21 | Austin Hill | Global Industrial Chevrolet | 98.852 | 87.403 |
| 13 | 20 | Brandon Jones | Menards/Bali Toyota | 98.887 | 87.372 |
| 14 | 0 | Sheldon Creed | Road Ranger Ford | 99.008 | 87.266 |
| 15 | 10 | Daniel Dye # | Heise LED Lighting Systems Chevrolet | 99.095 | 87.189 |
| 16 | 8 | Sammy Smith | Pilot Chevrolet | 99.115 | 87.171 |
| 17 | 42 | Anthony Alfredo | Austin Gamblers Chevrolet | 99.196 | 87.100 |
| 18 | 31 | Blaine Perkins | WERNER Chevrolet | 99.247 | 87.056 |
| 19 | 48 | Nick Sanchez # | Borchetta Bourbon Chevrolet | 99.248 | 87.055 |
| 20 | 32 | Austin Green | Volpi Chevrolet | 99.313 | 86.998 |
| 21 | 11 | Josh Williams | Alloy Employer Services Chevrolet | 99.431 | 86.894 |
| 22 | 99 | Matt DiBenedetto | ReMA Chevrolet | 99.439 | 86.887 |
| 23 | 18 | William Sawalich # | Starkey Toyota | 99.490 | 86.843 |
| 24 | 14 | Carson Hocevar(i) | Trophy Tractor Chevrolet | 99.572 | 86.771 |
| 25 | 50 | Preston Pardus | Chinchor Electric Inc Chevrolet | 99.834 | 86.544 |
| 26 | 91 | Josh Bilicki | Insurance King Chevrolet | 99.991 | 86.408 |
| 27 | 7 | Alex Labbe | Black Diamond Garages Chevrolet | 100.058 | 86.350 |
| 28 | 53 | Sage Karam | Eternal Fan Toyota | 100.093 | 86.320 |
| 29 | 27 | Jeb Burton | State Water Heaters Chevrolet | 100.214 | 86.215 |
| 30 | 26 | Dean Thompson # | Thompson Pipe Group Toyota | 100.244 | 86.190 |
| 31 | 25 | Harrison Burton | DEX Imaging Ford | 100.367 | 86.084 |
| 32 | 44 | Brennan Poole | Midas Chevrolet | 100.431 | 86.029 |
| 33 | 5 | Kris Wright | First National Bank Corp Chevrolet | Owner Points | 85.947 |
| 34 | 71 | Ryan Ellis | Classic Collision Chevrolet | Owner Points | 85.916 |
| 35 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | Henderson Jet Services Chevrolet | Owner Points | 85.819 |
| 36 | 28 | Kyle Sieg | RSS Racing Ford | Owner Points | 85.317 |
| 37 | 35 | Baltazar Leguizamon | KSW Construction Corp/Speed Agro Chevrolet | Owner Points | 84.631 |
| 38 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | Sci Aps Ford | Owner Points | 0.000 |