NOAPS Race Recap: Suburban Propane 300

The Suburban Propane 300 took the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series to the high banks of Bristol Motor Speedway. William Sawalich continued his speed from last week to snag the pole this week. Sheldon Creed joined him on the front row. Brandon Jones and Kyle Larson started the race on the second row. Connor Zilisch started in 15th. The stage lengths were 85 laps for the first and second stages, with the final stage being 130 laps.

Larson Doing Larson Things

Sawalich got a great launch and took the lead into turn one. Larson fell back several spots. The first caution came out when Masson Maggio got loose off of turn 4 and turned across the race track.

Sawalich and Creed brought the field back to the green flag. Sawalich spun his tires, but he did retake his lead. Brandon Jones pushed Sawalich off the line to give him the edge. Creed settled in line in second. Larson got back into fourth after passing Taylor Gray.

Parker Retzlaff and Corey Day battled for tenth. Retzlaff kept Day on his outside before finally getting around him. Day had to settle in behind him.

Larson joined the podium after getting around Jones for third. He then reeled in Creed to battle for second. Larson made quick work of Creed, taking the position. He then caught the rear bumper of Sawalich. They caught the lapped traffic at the rear of the field. Larson made the pass for the lead on the outside and quickly pulled away.

Sawalich fell to Creed and then to Jones, while Larson pulled away from Creed by two seconds.

The next caution came out when Austin Green had a tire blow and could not get to the pits.

Ryan Sieg and Jeremy Clements restarted on the front row. They got equal launches, but Clements got loose on the back stretch and fell out of the top five. Anthony Alfredo took second but could not hold onto it as he got loose and surrendered the spot to Larson. Alfredo continued to fall.

Larson caught the back of Sieg and quickly retook the lead. Creed was next to pass Sieg to take second.

Larson would lead them to the green-white-checkered flag to win stage one in the Suburban Propane 300! Creed and Sieg finished in second and third, respectively.

Kyle Brought his Broom

Larson and Justin Allgaier brought the field back to the green flag. Larson got a great jump and took the top spot into turn one. Creed followed Larson to get to second. Jones also got around Allgaier for third. Allgaier got loose in front of his teammate, Connor Zilisch. Zilisch could not make the pass before another caution came out. Logan Bearden got turned, which brought out the fourth caution of the evening.

Larson and Jones restarted on the front row. Larson got another good launch, and Creed followed to take second. Allgaier took third, which dropped Jones to fourth. Jones fell outside the top five after getting passed by Zilisch and Brent Crews.

With 25 to go, Larson maintained his lead at over three seconds. Zilisch caught the rear bumper of Creed, with Allgaier in tow.

Zilisch got alongside Creed, but lapped traffic made it difficult to complete the pass. Allgaier caught Zilisch and used the inside line to pass for third.

Larson, out in front by over four seconds, brought the field to the green-white-checkered flag to win stage two in the Suburban Propane 300! Creed, Allgaier, Zilisch, and Crews rounded out the top five.

Stage 3

Zilisch joined Larson on the front row for the restart. Larson and Allgaier passed Zilisch to take first and second. Zilisch got loose underneath Creed, which allowed Creed and Sawalich to pass him.

With 106 to go, Maggio pulled into the infield with his car smoking and then catching fire. That brought out the sixth caution of the night. NASCAR brought out the red flag to allow for the cleanup of fluids spilled onto the track.

Larson and Sawalich brought the green flag back out with 99 to go. Larson retook the lead. Allgaier pulled to the outside of Sawalich. He was able to take the spot for second.

Zilisch took third after passing Sawalich.

Creed and Brent Crews fought to stay in the top five. Creed had a run to get around Sawalich, but Sawalich slammed the door and even made contact. That did not slow Creed down as he and Crews took the spot from Sawalich.

Zilisch got to the outside of Allgaier and made quick work of the pass. Creed then did the same thing. Allgaier fell to fourth.

Sawalich and Day fought hard for seventh. Day used his front bumper to let Sawalich know he was there. He then slid into the driver’s side door of Sawalich. He would ultimately take the spot and pull away.

40 to Go

Allgaier fought hard to keep Crews behind him. Crews was faster, but could not get around him. He worked Allgaier for several laps. Crews finally dove deep into one to take the spot. Allgaier fought back into turn three, but Crews was too fast and pulled away in fourth.

The fifth caution came out when Gray Gaulding got turned around by Jesse Love. He was able to get it turned back around and kept going.

After pit stops, Day and Zilisch restarted on the front row. Larson restarted in sixth. Zilisch quickly got off the line in the lead. Crews took second while Larson got to third. Allgaier took the outside line to challenge Larson for third.

Crews drove too deeply into turn two and hit the wall. Allgaier and Larson pulled up to his rear bumper. Larson got in front of Allgaier, and Crews was able to hold onto the spot.

The eighth caution came out for Anthony Alfredo, who got sideways on the front stretch and into the inside wall.

Larson joined Zilisch on the front row for the restart with 11 to go in the race. They got equal launches, but Zilisch was able to take the lead. Crews made a move on the outside of Zilisch to challenge for the lead. Larson followed Crews to the outside. Crews got into the wall on the back stretch. Larson made the pass and began to challenge for the lead.

Larson chased Zilisch until he got loose in turn four. That allowed Zilisch to scamper away for the final two laps. Zilisch went on to the checkered flag to win the Suburban Propane 300! Larson, Crews, Allgaier, and Carson Kvapil rounded out the top five.

Marvin’s Minute:

Connor Zilisch and Kyle Larson battling for the win at Bristol will always be amazing. The amount of talent between those two always puts on a show. Zilisch still knows how to drive a race car. He has not had the start he wanted to his NASCAR Cup Series career, but he still has it. For the record, his struggles in the Cup Series have nothing to do with him. The talent level between the two series is drastic. He will find his footing and get better.

I also want to give Brent Crews a shout-out. He has shown so much grit and skill in his limited career so far. He will win soon. With the great Joe Gibbs Racing team behind him, he will find his way to victory lane.