Zilisch Secures Pole Position for Focused Health 250 at COTA

AUSTIN, Texas – Connor Zilisch of JR Motorsports will start from the pole position in Saturday’s Focused Health 250 at Circuit of The Americas (COTA), marking his first pole of the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series season and the 10th of his career. The qualifying session took place on Friday, February 27, 2026.

Qualifying Results and Standings

Zilisch recorded a lap of 88.398 miles per hour (97.740 seconds) on the 17-turn, 2.4-mile National Course, besting teammate Shane van Gisbergen by .209 of a second (88.209 mph/97.949 secs). Van Gisbergen will start in second position, giving JR Motorsports a front-row sweep. Jayski.com reports this is Zilisch’s second consecutive pole at COTA.

Austin Hill of Richard Childress Racing and Brandon Jones of Joe Gibbs Racing qualified third and fourth, respectively. Justin Allgaier (JR Motorsports) qualified fifth (87.661 mph, 98.562 secs.) and Sammy Smith (JR Motorsports) qualified tenth (87.394 mph, 98.863 secs.).

Race Details

The Focused Health 250 is scheduled to start at 2 p.m. CT on Saturday, February 28, 2026, and will consist of 65 laps. The race will be broadcast on The CW and broadcast on the Performance Racing Network (PRN) and SiriusXM radio. nascaratcota.com

Season Outlook

The NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series season is underway, with 33 races scheduled for the year. Austin Hill currently leads the standings after winning the season-opening race at Daytona. Rajah Caruth is in second place, and Sheldon Creed is in third. on3.com reports that NASCAR has adopted the Chase system for this season.

Zilisch’s Weekend

Zilisch is competing in a double-duty weekend at COTA, also participating in the NASCAR Cup Series as a rookie with Trackhouse Racing. This is his first of select O’Reilly Auto Parts Series starts this season with JR Motorsports. speedwaymedia.com notes that this is Zilisch’s seventh career pole on a road course event.