The NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series returns to road-course racing on May 9 with the Mission 200 at The Glen at Watkins Glen International, the circuit’s second such race this season. It is the first road-course event since Feb. 28 at COTA, where Shane van Gisbergen won.
Connor Zilisch enters the conversation again because he is van Gisbergen’s Trackhouse Racing teammate and because he already has a win in the 2025 O'Reilly Auto Parts Series after leading 60 laps for JR Motorsports. Watkins Glen will air nationally on the CW Network, with streaming available through FUBO in limited markets nationwide, and FUBO is offering a free trial to potential subscribers.
That makes Friday’s race more than a stop on the calendar. It is the next road-course test for a series that has already shown how quickly the front can change when the field turns away from oval racing and onto a layout that rewards precision, patience and a clean run through traffic.
The tension is built into the backdrop. Van Gisbergen set the pace at COTA in the season’s first road-course race, while Zilisch’s earlier 60-lap performance showed he can turn that same kind of race into a statement. Watkins Glen is the second road-course event of the season, and it gives both drivers another chance to show whether that form travels when the series returns to the style of racing that has already produced one clear benchmark this year.
For Zilisch, the spotlight is no longer only about one win. It is about whether that victory was the start of a pattern or just the first sharp turn in a long season.
