Connor Zilisch awarded O’Reilly pole at Chicagoland

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Connor Zilisch awarded O’Reilly pole at Chicagoland

Originally posted on SpeedwayMedia.com | By Andrew Kim | Last updated Jul 4, 2026 2:04 AM ET

Connor Zilisch was awarded the pole position for the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series’ Cuervo 300 at Chicagoland Speedway on Saturday, July 4.

The event’s starting lineup was initially going to be determined through an on-track qualifying session that consisted of a single-car, single-lap qualifying format. During the session, each of the 38 competitors vying for 38 starting spots would cycle around Chicagoland once to post the fastest lap amongst one another, and the competitor who posted the single fastest lap was awarded the pole position.

Due to inclement weather rolling through the Chicagoland area on Friday afternoon, NASCAR elected to postpone Friday’s practice session to Saturday in place of qualifying. As a result, the starting lineup was determined using a qualifying metric formula per the NASCAR rulebook.

The formula awarded Zilisch, a 13-time O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race winner from Charlotte, North Carolina, the pole position. Zilisch, a full-time Cup Series rookie who is making his ninth O’Reilly start at Chicagoland with JR Motorsports, is coming off a runner-up result behind Shane van Gisbergen at Sonoma Raceway. Zilisch has notched a pair of victories in his part-time O’Reilly Series starts (Bristol Motor Speedway in April and Watkins Glen International in May) and will strive for a third this weekend at Chicagoland.

Zilisch will share the front row with Brent Crews, the latter of whom is ranked in 11th place in the standings and is coming off a third-place result at Sonoma. Carson Kvapil, Corey Day and Parker Retzlaff will start in the top five, respectively. Jesse Love, Anthony Alfredo, Sheldon Creed, Sam Mayer and Sammy Smith complete the top-10 starting grid.

With 38 competitors vying for 38 starting spots, all made the main event.