Connor Zilisch Is NASCAR’s Next Big Thing

There's no question that NASCAR Xfinity team owner Dale Earnhardt, Jr., gave raw rookie driver Connor Zilisch a good car for Saturday's Mission 200 at the Glen. But there were plenty of good cars, and many more accomplished drivers, including William Byron, 2024 NASCAR Daytona 500 winner for Hendrick Motorsports; Shane van Gisbergen, who had won this season's three previous road course racers, plus Cup drivers Ross Chastain and Ty Gibbs. And A.J. Allmendinger, a road course expert ever since he moved to NASCAR from Champ Car.

After the Mission 200 at the tough Watkins Glen Raceway in New York, it was Allmendinger who told NASCAR.com about Zilisch: "As we've all seen, he's going to be the next superstar."

Zilisch won the Xfinity race in his very first start in the series, qualifying on the pole and beating Sheldon Creed by three-tenths of a second, with Allmendinger in third, van Gisbergen in fifth. Even more impressive: A mid-race, on-track penalty (he mistakenly drove through a chicane under caution) moved Zilisch back to 31st, and he had to battle through the field for the win.

Though the competition wasn't as tough, Zilisch also won the ARCA race on Friday by nearly 13 seconds. It was his fifth win in that series.

Zilisch's weekend performance was, in short, pretty darn amazing to watch.

And it dovetails with what I wrote in March after Zilisch, then 17, was on the winning team for Era Motorsports' LMP2 victory for both the 2024 Rolex 24 at Daytona, and the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, where he drove the final 90 minutes of the race. "If Connor Zilisch were on the stock market, I'd buy some shares," I said. And I still would, but I suspect they'd be getting expensive.

He has a contract with Trackhouse Racing, which has Watkins Glen Cup polesitter Ross Chastain, van Gisbergen, Daniel Suarez and Zane Smith on the roster. With no room for him for 2025, they are loaning him out to Earnhardt's JR Motorsports, for whom he drove at Watkins, and will drive for in three more Xfinity oval-track races this year before starting a full season at Daytona in February. Some Cup starts, especially on road courses, are likely.

His IMSA co-driver Ryan Dalziel, a previous Rolex 24 at Daytona overall winner, said this about how Zilisch handled the final caution flag at Sebring: "You look at the list of drivers that were behind Connor on that restart-the talent, and the guys with experience-and the kid just kept his head cool and brought it home." That's been his trademark-he just doesn't get rattled, or intimidated.

After Sebring, Zilisch told us: "It's been a wild last few weeks for me, and I'm not going to let my head get big. I've still got to put in the work. I'm only 17," he said. "I can't even rent a car. Dad has to do that for me."

Sean Gardner/Getty ImagesSean Gardner/Getty Images

So where did Connor Zilisch come from? It was pretty typical, beginning at age five in karts, where the Charlotte, North Carolina native spent 10 years. The highlight came in 2017 where he won the Mini Rok World Championship in South Garda, Italy competing against more than 160 other competitors from 33 countries. In 2020 he also became the first ever American to win the CIK-FIA Karting Academy Trophy, a three-race series where competitors from all over the world race in identical equipment.

He transitioned from karts to cars in 2021, and in 2022 he began racing late model cars for Carroll Speedshop. He would score two wins, both coming at Hickory Motor Speedway, as well as two other podium positions.

Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

Zilisch began racing in the very tough Mazda MX-5 Cup series in 2021, winning a $110,000 scholarship for racing in 2022. He also raced in the Trans Am Series, where he laid waste to the record book.

Suddenly, barely-18-year-old Connor Zilisch is the hottest young driver in NASCAR. Zilisch took a call from team owner, NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr., during his winner's press conference. "Enjoy this. You never win your 'first' again," Earnhardt told him.

Let's hope Zilisch was listening.

Connor Zilisch (R) with Dale Earnhardt Jr. (L)Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

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