February 28, 2026; Austin, Texas, USA; O’Reilly NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series driver Shane Van Gisbergen (9) holds up his trophy after winning the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Focused Health 250 at Circuit of the Americas. Mandatory Credit: Michael C. Johnson-Imagn Image AUSTIN, Texas — With a bold and dazzling move following the final restart of Saturday’s Focused Health 250 at the Circuit of the Americas, Shane van Gisbergen once again demonstrated his road course dominance.
Driving down the inside line into Turn 1 after a restart with five laps remaining, van Gisbergen made a four-wide pass from sixth for the lead and won the fifth NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts race of his career. This time he finished 0.780 seconds ahead of runner-up Austin Hill.
In a tough event with more than a share of contact, van Gisbergen led five times for 31 laps, including the final five laps after a decisive move that saw then-leader and Stage 2 winner Sam Mayer run wide at the first corner and clear the inside lane for the winning pass.
“I was a little unsure because I started sixth on the outside,” van Gisbergen said. “I got kind of inside and nosed the 41 (Mayer) and he reacted. When he reacted I thought he couldn’t stop it and he pushed everyone wide. It was awesome and it worked out for us.”
The win was SVG’s first at COTA in only the second O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at the track. He is winless in two NASCAR Cup Series starts on Texas road courses.
“I’ve always been fast here, but I never won,” van Gisbergen said. “So I’m very happy to finally get it done. It was a flawless day.”
Van Gisbergen’s victory was JR Motorsports’ 10th consecutive road course win and the 106th overall for the organization.
Austin Hill’s runner-up finish was his third in five starts at the 2.4-mile track.
“I made a lot of mistakes today, but on this road course, that’s what’s going to happen,” said Hill, the series points leader through three races. “Phase 2 was a bit of a struggle, trying to figure out what I needed to do to get better.”
In a race billed as a matchup between van Gisbergen and pole winner Connor Zilisch, Sammy Smith finished third, followed by Jesse Love and Corey Day. Zilisch had many problems and ended up in 21st place.
After Zilisch led 12 laps of the first stage, his No. 1 The Chevrolet’s left rear brake rotor broke and the 19-year-old prodigy sped through the field. After stopping for rear brake repairs, Zilisch started the final stage in 29th but advanced just as quickly.
With less than three laps remaining, he cleared Day’s No. 17 Chevrolet for fourth before contact occurred in Day’s car, causing Zilisch to spin and damaging his Camaro.
17-year-old Brent Crews finished sixth in his series debut after taking the lead on the Stage 2 restart. Crews is the first driver under the age of 18 to lead a series lap since Casey Atwood achieved the feat in 1998.
William Sawalich, Justin Allgaier, Ross Chastain and Brennan Poole rounded out the top 10.
NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Race – Focused Health 250
circuit of the america
Austin, Texas
Saturday, February 28, 2026
1. (2) Shane van Gisbergen(i), Chevrolet, age 65.
2. (3) Austin Hill, Chevrolet, 65.
3. (10) Sammy Smith, Chevrolet, age 65.
4. (11) Jesse Love, Chevrolet, age 65.
5. (12) Corey Day, Chevrolet, 65.
6. (7) Brent Crews, Toyota, 65.
7. (15) William Sawalich, Toyota, age 65.
8. (5) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, age 65.
9. (21) Ross Chastain (i), Chevrolet, age 65.
10. (26) Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, age 65.
11. (9) Sheldon Creed, Chevrolet, age 65.
12. (14) Taylor Gray, Toyota, age 65.
13. (28) Alex Labbe, Chevrolet, age 65.
14. (8) Sam Mayer, Chevrolet, age 65.
15. (4) Brandon Jones, Toyota, 65 years old.
16. (18) Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, age 65.
17. (24) Blaine Perkins, Chevrolet, age 65.
18. (34) Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, age 65.
19. (6) Carson Kvapil, Chevrolet, age 65.
20. (32) Patrick Staropoli, Chevrolet, age 65.
21. (1) Connor Zilisch(i), Chevrolet, 65.
22. (31) Lavar Scott #, Chevrolet, 65.
23. (16) Anthony Alfredo, Chevrolet, age 65.
24. (35) Kyle Sieg, Chevrolet, age 65.
25. (20) Nick Sanchez, Ford, age 65.
26. (27) Dean Thompson, Toyota, 65.
27. (17) Preston Padus, Chevrolet, 65.
28. (36) JJ Yeley, Chevrolet, 65.
29. (23) Harrison Burton, Toyota, 65.
30. (29) Parker Retzlaff, Chevrolet, age 65.
31. (19) Rajah Caruth, Chevrolet, age 65.
32. (30) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, age 65.
33. (13) Austin Green, Chevrolet, 65.
34. (33) Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, age 64.
35. (22) Sage Karam, Toyota, suspension, 53.
36. (25) Josh Bilicki, Chevrolet, suspension, 35.
37. (37) Baltazar Leguizamon, Chevrolet, accident, 33.
38. (38) Austin J Hill, Chevrolet, Suspension, 7.
Average speed of race winner: 70.411 mph.
Race time: 2 hours, 12 minutes and 56 seconds Margin of victory: .780 seconds.
Caution flags: 4 in 12 laps.
Lead changes: 16 out of 8 drivers.
Lab Leader: S. Gisbergen(i) 1-5;C. Zilisch(i) 6-17;A. Hill 18-21;S. Mayer 22;S. Giesbergen (i) 23;C. Zilish (i) 24;B. Crew 25-28;S. Gisbergen(i) 29-35;S. Mayer 36;C. Kvapil 37-38;S. Mayer 39-44;S. Gisbergen(i) 45-57;B. Crew 58;N. Sánchez 59;J. Allgaier 60;S. Giesbergen (i) 61-65.
Leader Summary (Driver, Time Lead, Lap Lead): Shane Van Gisbergen (i) 5 times in 31 laps; Connor Zilisch (i) twice in 13 laps; Sam Mayer 3 times in 8 laps; Brent Crews twice in five laps; Austin Hill once for four laps; Carson Kvapil 1 time, 2 laps; Justin Allgaier once per lap; Nick Sanchez 1 lap 1 time.
Top 10 in Tier 1: 21,41,7,20,2,91,17,87,88,9
Tier 2 top 10: 41,7,91,2,9,21,8,20,32,39
–Written by Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service. Special information about field level media.
