Zilisch Earns Pole For ARCA East Finale At Bristol

Connor Zilisch celebrates with the General Tire Pole Award at Bristol Motor Speedway. (Jacob Seelman photo)

BRISTOL, Tenn. – ARCA Menards Series East point leader Connor Zilisch made step one of his quest to wrap up the series title look easy Thursday afternoon at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Zilisch sped to the General Tire Pole Award ahead of the Bush’s Best 200 at The Last Great Colosseum, turning a best lap of 15.503 seconds (123.769 mph) with his No. 28 Silver Hare Driver Development Chevrolet in the 20-minute group qualifying session.

It took the 18-year-old standout just two laps to set the pole time, after he went out late in the round.

Zilisch needs to finish 13th or better to secure the ARCA East championship, regardless of what title rival William Sawalich does. That isn’t a guarantee, however, with 34 cars entered for the combination race between the national ARCA Menards Series and the ARCA Menards Series East.

“Honestly, I wasn’t expecting the top time,” said Zilisch after his second straight ARCA Menards Series pole. “I made mistakes on my lap, and I probably could have gone a good bit better had I not done that. That gives places for me to learn for Truck [Series] qualifying here in a little bit, but overall, the car was really good.

“Thankfully, we had a fast car from Pinnacle Racing Group that made my job easier”.

Though this is Zilisch’s first time racing at Bristol, he tipped that he realized quickly in practice how important track position will be come race time at the .533-mile concrete high banks.

“It’s going to be crucial,” he said of starting up front. “This place, even just in practice, it was hard to pass some of the slower cars out there. Starting from the front’s going to be really helpful. Now it’s just going to take a good clean night to race for a championship. If we go out there, run all 200 laps and make sure we’re there at the end, we should have a shot to get ourselves two trophies tonight.”

Sawalich will join Zilisch on the front row after a lap of 15.546 seconds (123.427 mph) in the No. 18 Starkey/Soundgear Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing.

The 17-year-old is seeking his seventh national ARCA win in the last 11 races and his third ARCA East victory in the regional tour’s eight-race calendar.

ARCA Menards Series point leader Andres Perez timed third-quickest (15.560/123.316) and will share row two with Landen Lewis, who is making his ARCA Menards Series return for the first time since this race one year ago.

Tyler Reif starts fifth, followed by Gio Ruggiero, Dawson Sutton, Corey Day, Jake Finch, and Dean Thompson.

Coverage of the Bush’s Best 200 is slated for 5 p.m. ET, live on FS1 and the Motor Racing Network.