AUSTIN, Texas — A friendly rivalry continues early at Circuit of the Americas. Connor Zilisch will lead the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series to the green flag on Saturday, Feb. 28 (3 p.m. ET on CW) while Shane van Gisbergen lines up next to him.
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The two Trackhouse Racing drivers had the best times during qualifying on Friday evening, which they posted during the first group. Zilisch's lap of 97.740 seconds topped the leaderboard as he won his 10th career O'Reilly Series pole. He also started from the pole at Circuit of the Americas last season before scoring his first win of the year.
MORE: O'Reilly Auto Parts Series starting lineup
Van Gisbergen's time of 97.949 seconds put him on the front row for the second time at the Texas track. He also started second for the road course race in 2024. He has yet to win a national series race at Circuit of the Americas.
"Yeah, it's a tough track, and I think it's also an easy track," van Gisbergen said on Saturday afternoon.
"You see the gaps between cars are a lot closer, so it's more down to executing, not making mistakes and qualifying well. I think you don't see a big field spread like other tracks, talent-wise."
The rest of the top 10 includes Austin Hill (98.359), Brandon Jones (98.448), Justin Allgaier (98.562), Carson Kvapil (98.572), Brent Crews (98.670), Sam Mayer (98.717), Sheldon Creed (98.786), and Sammy Smith (98.786).
Defending O'Reilly Auto Parts Series champion Jesse Love just missed the top 10. He qualified 11th with a lap of 98.786 seconds.
The entry list had 40 entries, which meant that two drivers failed to qualify for the big show. Josh Williams of DGM Racing and Tyler Gonzalez of Hettinger Racing both missed the cut. Austin J. Hill did not take part in qualifying after a mechanical issue in practice, but he still made the show
The O'Reilly Auto Parts Series race will take place on Saturday at 3 p.m. ET. CW will broadcast the race, the first road course event on the 2026 schedule.
