Connor Zilisch's topsy-turvy day at Sonoma ends with runner-up finish

Had the bad luck that has followed Connor Zilisch during his rookie season in the NASCAR Cup Series not followed him down to the O'Reilly Series, he may have won Saturday's O'Reilly Series race at Sonoma Raceway. 

But after starting 30th, speeding on pit road and charging back to the front of the field multiple times, the best Zilisch could muster on Saturday was second as Shane van Gisbergen led 66 of 79 laps and got his revenge on Zilisch for the 2025 O'Reilly Series race at the California road course. 

Connor Zilisch couldn't catch Shane van Gisbergen

"A caution or something to bunch us up would've been nice," Zilisch told CW Sports. "We were just matching each other the entire run there. He was probably saving fuel and managing his stuff and giving me hope, but I'll at least believe that we had something for him. A good day for JR Motorsports. Good to get another road course win for the team. Solid run for the 1 team."

Van Gisbergen opened up a sizable lead of over four seconds for much of the race's final run, and while his fuel-saving efforts allowed Zilisch to put down some fast laps and close the gap, he could never get it under a second. SVG won by 1.324 seconds over Zilisch. 

The duo will go for another win in Sunday's Cup race, though the Trackhouse teammates running 1-2 certainly won't be a foregone conclusion. Van Gisbergen qualified sixth, making it the first time in four NASCAR races at Sonoma that he won't start from the pole. Zilisch, meanwhile, will start 17th as he looks for his first career top 10.