Connor Zilisch charges by Jesse Love to win at Watkins Glen

Connor Zilisch won the Misson 200 at Watkins Glen International on Saturday.
Connor Zilisch won the Misson 200 at Watkins Glen International on Saturday.

The NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series visited the Watkins Glen International on Saturday afternoon in the Mission 200. Qualifying was canceled due to rain. Rajah Caruth started on the pole, and Justin Allgaier started second.

Brent Crews won the first stage. In the second stage, there were two cautions. On lap 27, Jeremy Clements and Lavar Scott got together at the end of the exit at Turn 1. The other was for debris in the backstretch on lap 35. Connor Zilisch won the second stage.

In the final stage, Jesse Love was leading the race with Connor Zilisch closing in on him. Zilisch suffered damage to the right front fender after hitting the grass at the bus stop. On the final lap, Zilisch caught and passed Love for the lead at the final corner.

He would get his second career win over Love by 0.262 seconds. Zilisch led a race-high 20 of 82 laps. Taylor Gray, Ross Chastain, and Brandon Jones rounded out the top five. Brent Crews, Parker Retzlaff, Shane van Gisbergen, Austin Green, and Justin Allgaier completed the top ten. Click here to see the rest of the results.

The O’Reilly Auto Parts Series heads to Dover Motor Speedway next Saturday at 4 pm on The CW.

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My name is Michael Heilman. I'm the Founder of BGMSportsTrax. An independent blog dedicated to covering regional and national sports, while presenting commentary on sports-related stories.