2026 Suburban Propane 300
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| Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 9 of 33 in the 2026 NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series | |||
 | |||
| Date | April 11, 2026 | ||
| Location | Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 0.533 miles (0.858 km) | ||
| Distance | 300 laps, 159.9 mi (257.33 km) | ||
| Average speed | 77.884 miles per hour (125.342 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Joe Gibbs Racing | ||
| Time | 15.634 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Kyle Larson | JR Motorsports | |
| Laps | 230 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver | Brent Crews | Joe Gibbs Racing | |
| Time | 16.012 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 1 | Connor Zilisch | JR Motorsports | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | The CW | ||
| Announcers | Dillion Welch, Jamie McMurray, and Parker Kligerman | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | PRN | ||
| Booth announcers | Brad Gillie and Nick Yeoman | ||
| Turn announcers | Pat Patterson (Backstretch) | ||
The 2026 Suburban Propane 300 was a NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series race held on Saturday, April 11, 2026, at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee. Contested over 300 laps on the 0.533-mile-long asphalt oval, it was the ninth race of the 2026 NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series season, and the second running of the event.
Connor Zilisch, driving for JR Motorsports, made a successful pit strategy by staying out on older tires with 28 laps to go, and held off a dominant Kyle Larson in the final six laps to earn his 12th career NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series win, and his first of the season.[10] Larson swept both stages and led a race-high 230 laps but was unable to get past Zilisch in the final laps and settled for second. Brent Crews finished third, while Justin Allgaier and Carson Kvapil rounded out the top five. Sheldon Creed, William Sawalich, Corey Day, Parker Retzlaff, and Taylor Gray rounded out the top ten.
This was the first of four races for the Dash 4 Cash program.[11] The drivers eligible for the D4C were William Sawalich, Brandon Jones, Justin Allgaier, and Rajah Caruth, since they were the highest finishing O'Reilly Series regulars following the race at Rockingham.[12] Allgaier finished in fourth and claimed the $100,000 bonus.
Background
The Bristol Motor Speedway, formerly known as Bristol International Raceway and Bristol Raceway, is a NASCAR short track venue located in Bristol, Tennessee. Constructed in 1960, it held its first NASCAR race on July 30, 1961. Despite its short length, Bristol is among the most popular tracks on the NASCAR schedule because of its distinct features, which include extraordinarily steep banking, an all-concrete surface, two pit roads, and stadium-like seating. It has also been named one of the loudest NASCAR tracks.
Besides holding racing events, the track has hosted the Battle at Bristol, a college football game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Virginia Tech Hokies on September 10, 2016, and the MLB Speedway Classic, an MLB baseball game between the Atlanta Braves and the Cincinnati Reds from August 2-3, 2025.
Suburban Propane was announced as the title sponsor on February 24.[13]
Entry list
- (R) denotes rookie driver.
- (i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.
Practice
The first and only practice session was held on Saturday, April 11, at 2:00 PM EST, and lasted for 50 minutes.[14]
Taylor Gray, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 15.746 seconds, and a speed of 121.860 miles per hour (196.115 km/h).
Practice results
| Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Time | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 54 | Taylor Gray | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 15.746 | 121.860 |
| 2 | 20 | Brandon Jones | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 15.774 | 121.643 |
| 3 | 88 | Kyle Larson (i) | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 15.817 | 121.313 |
| Full practice results | ||||||
Qualifying
Qualifying was held on Saturday, April 11, at 3:05 PM EST.[14] Since Bristol Motor Speedway is a short track, the qualifying procedure used was a single-car, two-lap system with one round. Drivers were on track by themselves and had two laps to post a qualifying time, and whoever set the fastest time won the pole.[15]
William Sawalich, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, qualified on pole position with a lap of 15.634 seconds, and a speed of 122.733 miles per hour (197.520 km/h).[16]
No drivers failed to qualify.
