Sports
Connor Zilisch passes best buddy on last lap of Mission 200 at the Glen
May 9, 2026; Watkins Glen, New York, USA; NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series driver Connor Zilisch (1) celebrates after winning the Mission 200 at Watkins Glen International. Mandatory Credit: Matthew O’Haren-Imagn Images WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — With a last-corner pass in a wounded car, Connor Zilisch preserved his perfect record at Watkins Glen International — at the expense of his best friend.
Running down Jesse Love after pitting with 25 laps left, Zilisch shot past Love’s No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet in Turn 7 and won a drag race to the finish line to win Saturday’s Mission 200 at the Glen by 0.262 seconds.
The victory was Zilisch’s third straight at the 2.45-mile road course in as many starts, his second in his fifth NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series start of the season and the 13th of his career.
Zilisch, Terry Labonte and Marcos Ambrose are the only drivers with three consecutive O’Reilly Series victories at Watkins Glen.
For the 70th straight race, JR Motorsports put at least one car in the top 10 to move within nine of RFK Racing’s record (2008-10). JRM also collected its 11th straight road course victory.
The victory was the product of Zilisch’s relentless pursuit of Love, who pitted on Lap 48 of 72 and saved fuel the rest of the way. Zilisch, meanwhile, erased an 18-second deficit by chopping full seconds per lap off Love’s lead over the final 25 circuits.
With six laps left, Zilisch hit the grass as he sped through the tricky Bus Stop Chicane and damaged the undercarriage of his car. Adjusting to the altered feel of his No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, Zilisch continued his pursuit and closed on his friend.
On the final lap, Zilisch made up significant ground through the Bus Stop and took advantage when Love ran wide through the final corner.
“That was driving as hard as I could for all 30 of those laps (from a restart on lap 51), just trying to make up that gap,” Zilisch said. “I wasn’t going to move Jesse in the last corner there, but he got in deep, and I was able to get by.”
“It’s so cool to come back and get my third win at Watkins Glen in a row with JRM. Cool to get it with Rodney (Childers). He’s my third different crew chief here.”
This was the second significant battle between Zilisch and Love in the last six months. At Phoenix Raceway in November, Love outdueled the heavily favored Zilisch to win the series championship.
On Saturday, it was Love who was disconsolate.
“At the end of the day, the glaring piece of it is I had a bad corner,” Love said. “It was definitely a challenging but good experience for me. I’ve never saved fuel on a road course. What a good mental challenge for me.
“All I want to do is beat Connor here (on a road course), right? We’re best friends, and we’ve caused each other a lot of pain. I didn’t execute when I needed to. I think the reason I’m so quiet is I’m just embarrassed, right? As a driver, you just can’t make those mistakes.”
As a measure of the friendship between the two drivers, the first person to Love’s car after the race was Zilisch’s mother as she gave Love a consoling hug.
Taylor Gray and Ross Chastain finished third and fourth, respectively, both on fuel-saving strategy. Brandon Jones was fifth, followed by rookie Brent Crews, Parker Retzlaff, Shane van Gisbergen, Austin Green and Justin Allgaier, whose series lead over second place Sheldon Creed (29th Saturday) grew to 155 points.
van Gisbergen was in the mix for the win before contact between his car and Zilisch’s on pit road tore the left front fender on van Gisbergen’s No. 9 JRM Chevrolet. He had to pit again for repairs, his winning chances gone.
Crews led a race-high 32 laps, followed by Zilisch with 20 and Love with 18.
After the victory, Zilisch climbed from his care with utmost care, determined not to repeat the fall from the window ledge that cost him a broken collarbone last year.
“It really means a lot to get another one here and get out of the car safely and get onto the ground without killing myself,” Zilisch said.
Zilisch and van Gisbergen will race as Trackhouse Racing teammates in Sunday’s Go Bowling at The Glen, with the New Zealander on the pole for the NASCAR Cup Series event.
NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Race — Mission 200 at The Glen
Watkins Glen International
Watkins Glen, New York
Saturday, May 9, 2026
1. (17) Connor Zilisch(i), Chevrolet, 82.
2. (8) Jesse Love, Chevrolet, 82.
3. (25) Taylor Gray, Toyota, 82.
4. (29) Ross Chastain(i), Chevrolet, 82.
5. (7) Brandon Jones, Toyota, 82.
6. (4) Brent Crews #, Toyota, 82.
7. (6) Parker Retzlaff, Chevrolet, 82.
8. (12) Shane Van Gisbergen(i), Chevrolet, 82.
9. (35) Austin Green, Chevrolet, 82.
10. (2) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 82.
11. (9) Austin Hill, Chevrolet, 82.
12. (1) Rajah Caruth, Chevrolet, 82.
13. (5) Sam Mayer, Chevrolet, 82.
14. (34) Carson Kvapil, Chevrolet, 82.
15. (27) Corey Day, Chevrolet, 82.
16. (10) Sammy Smith, Chevrolet, 82.
17. (22) Harrison Burton, Toyota, 82.
18. (18) Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, 82.
19. (30) Alex Labbe, Chevrolet, 82.
20. (36) Will Rodgers, Chevrolet, 82.
21. (38) Preston Pardus, Chevrolet, 82.
22. (26) Josh Bilicki, Chevrolet, 82.
23. (13) Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, 82.
24. (15) Anthony Alfredo, Chevrolet, 82.
25. (23) Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, 82.
26. (24) Blaine Perkins, Chevrolet, Out of Fuel, 81.
27. (20) Lavar Scott #, Chevrolet, Out of Fuel, 81.
28. (21) Alex Guenette, Chevrolet, 81.
29. (3) Sheldon Creed, Chevrolet, 81.
30. (32) Glen Reen, Toyota, 81.
31. (33) Kyle Sieg, Chevrolet, 81.
32. (31) Derek White, Chevrolet, 78.
33. (11) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 74.
34. (28) Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, Suspension, 72.
35. (16) Dean Thompson, Toyota, Transmission, 54.
36. (14) William Sawalich, Toyota, Engine, 15.
37. (37) Matt Wilson, Chevrolet, Accident, 5.
38. (19) Patrick Staropoli #, Chevrolet, Engine, 4.
–Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service
Sports
Jeeno Thitikul maintains lead at Mizuho Americas Open
Apr 23, 2026; Houston, Texas, United States; Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand hits a tee shot on the 10th hole during the first round of The Chevron Championship golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Erik Williams-Imagn Images For the third consecutive day, Thailand’s Jeeno Thitikul held her spot atop the leaderboard as she attempts to defend her title at the Mizuho Americas Open in West Caldwell, N.J.
Thitikul saw her three-shot lead after two rounds sliced to two in the third round on Saturday as she carded a 2-under-par 70 to finish 54 holes at 10-under 206.
France’s Celine Boutier followed up her 68 on Friday with a 67 to climb into solo second at 8 under. Korea’s Hye-Jin Choi (-7) and Allisen Corpuz (-6) produced the day’s low rounds at 66 to move into third and a share of fourth, respectively. China’s Ruoning Yin (68) and Australia’s Hannah Green (68) are tied with Corpuz.
Thitikul won the event last year at Liberty National Golf Club, but it was moved 27 miles northwest to Mountain Ridge Country Club this year.
Thitiful, who stands No. 2 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, bogeyed the second hole but made back-to-back birdies on Nos. 7 and 8 and posted a birdie on the par-5 17th to reach 10-under for the first time.
Thitikul has only missed six greens in 54 holes.
“I think maybe I just not, you know, expect the perfect shot just going in the hole,” she said. “I mean, I just pick my target or where I want to start the ball and I just commit and then hit the ball.”
Boutier bogeyed the first hole to fall back to 2-under, but went bogey-free from there while converting three birdies on each nine. The 32-year-old former Duke standout played the four par-3s in 3 under.
“I feel like I learn a little bit more each day on this course,” Boutier said. “I feel like today the conditions were a little bit more difficult at the end, but it was actually really calm the first, you know, like 12 holes or so.
“So I feel like it was playing slightly bit easier. I feel like I gave myself more birdie chances, which kind of helped a lot.”
Choi, who started the day tied for 13th, birdied five of eight holes in the middle of her round and sliced her number of putts from 36 on Friday to 29 on Saturday.
“I think it was because actually I really hit a lot of putts yesterday, but it was because the green was still hard and if I hit the second shot far to the pin, it was hard to make two putts,” Choi said. “…So I made lots of three-putts yesterday.
“Compared to yesterday, today I didn’t really have a long putt left, and I made a good save on the difficult putts, too.
Jennifer Kupcho (-3) and Brooke Matthews (-2), who started in second and third place, respectively, each shot 2 over 74 to fall out of the top nine.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Ex-NFL player Anthony Wint to fight on Dana White's Contender Series
Aug 24, 2019; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New Orleans Saints running back Dwayne Washington (27) is tackled by New York Jets linebacker Anthony Wint (52) during the second half at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images Former NFL linebacker Anthony Wint will fight for a UFC contract on Dana White’s Contender Series, per multiple media reports.
Wint played college football at Florida International University, where he was a three-time All-Conference USA selection. He signed with the New York Jets as an undrafted free agent in 2018.
He appeared in two NFL games that season, recording one tackle and a forced fumble.
In 2023, Wint made the shift to mixed martial arts. Thus far, he has collected a 6-0 record with four wins by knockout and one by submission.
The 30-year-old heavyweight is listed at 6’0″ and 224 pounds. He will take on Matt Adams (6-2) on August 11 at the Meta Apex in Las Vegas.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Alex Fitzpatrick takes lead at Truist Championship
May 8, 2026; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Alex Fitzpatrick places his ball on 18 green during the second round of the Truist Championship golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images England’s Alex Fitzpatrick shot 7-under-par 64 to take the lead through three rounds of the Truist Championship on Saturday in Charlotte.
He’s at 14-under 199 with a one-shot lead on Norway’s Kristoffer Reitan, who posted a bogey-free 64, and a two-shot edge on Cameron Young, who recorded a 63.
It was a day with lots of movement on the leaderboard at Quail Hollow Club, where last May the PGA Championship was contested.
Fitzpatrick was 6 under for the round through 12 holes, pulling into a tie for the lead. He birdied Nos. 12 and 15 before the momentum was interrupted with a bogey on the 16th as he had to hit out of a greenside bunker. He needed an 8-foot putt for birdie on the next hole.
Young, who last weekend won the Cadillac Championship in Miami with a wire-to-wire effort, had an eagle on the par-5 seventh hole by sinking a 28-foot putt. His lone bogey came on the final hole.
Denmark’s Nicolai Hojgaard (67) and South Korea’s Sunjae Im (70), the second-round leader, share fourth place at 10 under.
Justin Thomas (69), J.J. Spaun (65) and England’s Tommy Fleetwood (70) are tied for sixth at 9 under.
Among the top 10 on the leaderboard, only Fitzpatrick and Thomas have kept their scores below 70 for all three rounds.
The start of the third round was delayed because of morning storms. It marked the second time in three days that a round was off schedule because of weather.
–Field Level Media
Jeeno Thitikul maintains lead at Mizuho Americas Open
Ex-NFL player Anthony Wint to fight on Dana White's Contender Series
