Sports
Connor Zilisch again proves road-course mastery at COTA
WeatherTech Chevrolet driver Connor Zilisch (88) celebrates winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series Focused Health 250 at Circuit of the Americas on Saturday, March 1, 2025 in Austin. AUSTIN, Texas — It’s hard to put Connor Zilisch off his game as the 18-year-old road-course prodigy proved once again in winning Saturday’s Focused Health 250 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Circuit of The Americas.
A commitment line violation couldn’t do it. Sent to the rear for pitting when pit road closed suddenly for the race’s second caution, Zilisch restarted 32nd after the first stage break and drove through the field, taking the lead from Carson Kvapil on Lap 56 of 65 at the 2.4-mile, 20-turn circuit.
Hard contact with the Toyota of Corey Heim couldn’t do it. Fighting for position in the final stage, Zilisch slammed into Heim, knocking him off course. The wheel-to-wheel contact damaged the right-front fender of Zilisch’s No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet and caused a serious tire rub under hard braking.
Hot pursuit from Kvapil couldn’t do it. After making what proved to be the winning pass, Zilisch had to fend off his teammate until Kvapil’s right front tire went flat on Lap 60. That gave Zilisch all the breathing room he needed as he nursed his car to the finish line.
Runner-up William Byron trimmed a four-second lead to under two but couldn’t mount a challenge over the closing laps. Byron’s No. 17 Chevy finished 1.639 seconds behind Zilisch.
As a result, the pole winner had his second career Xfinity Series victory, adding to his maiden win in his first start in the series last summer at Watkins Glen International.
“That was way harder than I wanted it to be,” said Zilisch, who scored the much-needed victory after respective finishes of 27th and 34th in the first two races of the season at Daytona and Atlanta. “I did not drive a clean race at all … I was kind of mentally fogged halfway through that race.
“I made way too many mistakes … I was glad we were able to fight back.”
Byron was driving the No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports car that won last year’s Xfinity race at COTA with Kyle Larson behind the wheel.
“My car was just kind of floppy in the short run, and I had to try to take care of it,” said Byron, who will defend his win in the NASCAR Cup Series race on Sunday. “I just tried to stay with it there in the long run … I had fun. It was a good workout.
“It was good to get back into the rhythm of things, pushing the car. I think it’ll help me for (Sunday).”
Zilisch is looking forward to Sunday, too. He’ll make his Cup Series debut in the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
“It’s been a fun weekend, but we’ve got a big race tomorrow, so I’m looking forward to that as well,” said Zilisch, who will start 14th.
Sam Mayer ran third on Saturday, with Austin Hill, last week’s Atlanta winner, finishing fourth. Hill charged from fourth to first after a Lap 46 restart when Zilisch and Kvapil ran wide into Turn 1.
But Hill’s lead was short-lived. When he overdrove Turn 6a on Lap 52, Kvapil shot past him into the lead, and Zilisch followed into second.
Four laps later, Zilisch had the lead for good, though Kvapil made it a contest until his tire deflated.
Christian Eckes finished fifth. Jesse Love, Taylor Gray, Ross Chastain, William Sawalich and Blaine Perkins completed the top 10.
The Xfinity Series returns to action next Saturday, March 8, for the GOVX 200 at Phoenix Raceway (5 p.m. ET, The CW, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
NASCAR Xfinity Series Race — Focused Health 250
Circuit of The Americas
Austin, Texas
Saturday, March 1, 2025
1. (1) Connor Zilisch #, Chevrolet, 65.
2. (3) William Byron(i), Chevrolet, 65.
3. (8) Sam Mayer, Ford, 65.
4. (12) Austin Hill, Chevrolet, 65.
5. (10) Christian Eckes #, Chevrolet, 65.
6. (11) Jesse Love, Chevrolet, 65.
7. (7) Taylor Gray #, Toyota, 65.
8. (2) Ross Chastain(i), Chevrolet, 65.
9. (23) William Sawalich #, Toyota, 65.
10. (18) Blaine Perkins, Chevrolet, 65.
11. (16) Sammy Smith, Chevrolet, 65.
12. (14) Sheldon Creed, Ford, 65.
13. (9) Riley Herbst(i), Toyota, 65.
14. (27) Alex Labbe, Chevrolet, 65.
15. (21) Josh Williams, Chevrolet, 65.
16. (34) Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, 65.
17. (15) Daniel Dye #, Chevrolet, 65.
18. (30) Dean Thompson #, Toyota, 65.
19. (38) Ryan Sieg, Ford, 65.
20. (32) Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, 65.
21. (17) Anthony Alfredo, Chevrolet, 65.
22. (26) Josh Bilicki, Chevrolet, 65.
23. (5) Carson Kvapil #, Chevrolet, 65.
24. (19) Nick Sanchez #, Chevrolet, 65.
25. (29) Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, 65.
26. (20) Austin Green, Chevrolet, 65.
27. (36) Kyle Sieg, Ford, 65.
28. (35) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 65.
29. (4) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 65.
30. (13) Brandon Jones, Toyota, 65.
31. (6) Corey Heim(i), Toyota, 65.
32. (22) Matt DiBenedetto, Chevrolet, 65.
33. (33) Kris Wright, Chevrolet, 64.
34. (28) Sage Karam, Toyota, Transmission, 58.
35. (31) Harrison Burton, Ford, Axle, 55.
36. (25) Preston Pardus, Chevrolet, Rear End, 26.
37. (37) Baltazar Leguizamon, Chevrolet, Suspension, 17.
38. (24) Carson Hocevar(i), Chevrolet, Accident, 3.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 70.095 mph.
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 13 Mins, 32 Secs. Margin of Victory: 1.639 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 4 for 14 laps.
Lead Changes: 14 among 9 drivers.
Lap Leaders: C. Zilisch # 1-5;R. Chastain(i) 6;C. Zilisch # 7-17;W. Byron(i) 18-20;R. Chastain(i) 21;T. Gray # 22-23;J. Love 24;T. Gray # 25;J. Love 26-30;R. Herbst(i) 31-37;H. Burton 38-42;C. Kvapil # 43-45;A. Hill 46-51;C. Kvapil # 52-55;C. Zilisch # 56-65.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Connor Zilisch # 3 times for 26 laps; Carson Kvapil # 2 times for 7 laps; Riley Herbst(i) 1 time for 7 laps; Jesse Love 2 times for 6 laps; Austin Hill 1 time for 6 laps; Harrison Burton 1 time for 5 laps; Taylor Gray # 2 times for 3 laps; William Byron(i) 1 time for 3 laps; Ross Chastain(i) 2 times for 2 laps.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 17,9,24,41,7,21,16,8,42,07
Stage #2 Top Ten: 25,10,8,27,39,44,07,11,53,28
–By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service. Special to Field Level Media
Sports
Aiden Hezarkhani, Ariath Piol score to lead Real Salt Lake past Sounders
Feb 28, 2026; Sandy, Utah, USA; Real Salt Lake forward Aiden Hezarkhani (39) controls the ball in the first half against the Seattle Sounders at America First Field. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Baker-Imagn Images Young players Aiden Hezarkhani and Ariath Piol scored and veteran goalkeeper Rafael Cabral made eight saves, as Real Salt Lake won its home opener 2-1 over the Seattle Sounders on Saturday night in Sandy, Utah.
Cabral’s last save was perhaps his biggest, as he stopped Snyder Brunell’s volley from about 8 yards out in the ninth of ten minutes of second-half stoppage time.
Real Salt Lake improved to 14-1-4 all-time at home against Seattle, with the lone loss coming in 2011.
Cristian Roldan scored for the Sounders (1-1-0, 3 points) in the opener of a five-game trip.
After a couple of close misses by the Sounders in the opening minutes, RSL (1-1-0, 3 points) opened the scoring in the 23rd.
Zavier Gozo dribbled between three Seattle defenders then attempted a pass to the top of the 18-yard box. That was knocked away by Hassani Dotson, but the ball fell to Luca Moisa, who sent a pass toward the top left of the penalty area to Juan Manuel Sanabria, making his MLS debut. Sanabria sent a cross back across to Hezarkhani on the right wing and his left-footed half-volley rocketed into the near upper corner of the net, leaving leaping goalkeeper Andrew Thomas no chance.
RSL doubled its advantage in the 47th minute as Philip Quinton sent a long ball down the right wing for Gozo. He dribbled into the penalty area before sending a low pass to Piol for a tap-in from 5 yards out.
The Sounders pulled within 2-1 in the 62nd minute as Rusnak’s corner kick from the left wing was sent to the near post, where Roldan put a glancing header into the far side of the net.
It appeared Seattle tied the score in the 77th minute when substitute Danny Musovski volleyed home a cross from Paul Rothrock, but it was ruled Rothrock was offside when he accepted a pass.
Cabral made a leaping save to punch a header from Yeimar Gomez Andrade off the goal line in the 8th minute following a Seattle free kick from the left wing.
In the 14th, Cabral leaped to tip a 35-yard free kick by Rusnak slotted for the upper left corner of the net out of bounds. Cabral crashed into the post and needed medical attention but was able to continue.
And in the 20th, Cabral came off his line to get a hand on a Rusnak header on a broken play after a deflected cross.
Cabral again thwarted Rusnak, a former RSL standout, in the 61st minute, tipping a free kick over the crossbar.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Anton Forsberg records shutout as Kings defeat Flames
Feb 28, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Kings center Alex Turcotte (15) shoots the puck during the second period against the Calgary Flames at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Griffin Hooper-Imagn Images Anton Forsberg made 29 saves for the Los Angeles Kings in a 2-0 win against the visiting Calgary Flames on Saturday afternoon.
Forsberg, who had allowed 16 goals while losing his previous four starts, posted his second shutout of the season and 10th in his 11-year NHL career.
Alex Laferriere and Adrian Kempe scored for the Kings, who had lost five in a row, most recently an 8-1 drubbing against the visiting Edmonton Oilers on Thursday.
Dustin Wolf made 35 saves for the Flames, who had won two in a row and three of four.
The Kings took a 1-0 lead at 15:36 of the second period.
Brandt Clarke started the play by making a diagonal pass from the neutral zone to Trevor Moore at the Calgary blue line. He skated in on Wolf before taking a wrist shot from the left circle that hit the near post.
Moore re-collected the puck in the corner, passed it to Quinton Byfield behind the net and he passed it out front to Laferriere. His initial shot from just below the right hash marks was saved, but Moore pulled the puck away from Wolf before he could cover it and Laferriere slapped in the puck from the side of the net for his 14th goal of the season.
The Flames went nearly 12 minutes without a shot on goal in the third period, helping the Kings maintain the one-goal advantage until Kempe scored into an empty net with 38 seconds left to make it 2-0.
Kempe has nine goals in his past 12 games against the Flames.
The Kings played without defenseman Drew Doughty (lower body) and forward Joel Armia (upper body), who were injured in the loss to Edmonton.
The Kings also announced on Saturday that winger Andrei Kuzmenko had surgery on a torn meniscus and is week-to-week.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Senators extend Maple Leafs' skid with resounding win
Feb 28, 2026; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Ottawa Senators defenseman Thomas Chabot (72) celebrates with team mates at the bench after scoring a goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first period at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images Dylan Cozens had two goals and an assist, Drake Batherson scored twice and the visiting Ottawa Senators defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-2 Saturday night.
Thomas Chabot added a goal and an assist for the Senators, who are 1-0-1 since the Olympic break. Linus Ullmark stopped 21 shots.
Morgan Rielly and William Nylander scored for the Maple Leafs, who are 0-3-0 since the break.
Joseph Woll allowed five goals on 28 shots before Anthony Stolarz replaced him late in the second period and made 12 saves.
The teams have split two games this season, with two more to come in the final month of the regular season.
Rielly scored from the left circle from Auston Matthews’ cross-ice pass from the right circle at 2:52 of the first period. It came two seconds after Cozens finished serving a roughing penalty.
Chabot leveled the game when he scored as the trailer from the high slot on Brady Tkachuk’s pass at 10:59 of the first.
The teams were tied after 20 minutes despite Ottawa holding a 16-2 advantage in shots on goal.
Cozens pounced on a loose puck to score from the edge of the crease at 3:03 of the second period. It came after Chabot’s shot from the left point was blocked in front of the net by Toronto’s Troy Stecher.
Batherson scored at 13:05 of the second on Ottawa’s third attempt during an onslaught on the Toronto net. Nylander answered 51 seconds later when he poked in his own rebound in the goalmouth.
Batherson came back to score on a 28-foot wrist shot at 15:15 of the second. Cozens added a power-play goal at 16:06. The Maple Leafs were serving a delay of game penalty after their unsuccessful challenge of Batherson’s goal.
A skirmish broke out early in the third period after a jam around the Toronto goal, resulting in two fighting majors and four minors.
Batherson had a chance at a hat trick but was foiled on a breakaway at 10:02 of the third period.
Toronto went on an ineffective power play at 10:27 that ended hopes of a possible rally.
Ottawa’s Shane Pinto rang the crossbar with a laser at 13:27.
–Field Level Media
