By Reid Spencer

NASCAR Wire Service

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, nine short of RFK Racing’s record (2008-2010). 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, with Zilisch—from 18 seconds back—chopping full seconds per lap off Love’s lead over the final 25 circuits.

With six laps left, however, Zilisch hit the grass as he sped through the 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 who Zilisch’s mother, who 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 Zilisch’s No. 9 JRM Chevrolet. van Gisbergen 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 quipped.

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 (3 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Photo Credit: Chris Graythen/Getty Images