Around this time last year, the NASCAR world began hearing the name Connor Zilisch more frequently. Now, the teenager is on the fast track to becoming NASCAR’s next “superstar,” according to peers and pundits alike.
Zilisch returns to Watkins Glen International this weekend as the defending winner of the NASCAR Xfinity Series’ Mission 200 at The Glen. The hype leading into the 2024 race weekend was real, with Zilisch being tabbed as the newest Red Bull athlete preceding his series debut. In practice, he was more than three-tenths of a second quicker than the field, which followed with a pole award.
WATCH: Zilisch captures Watkins Glen victory in Xfinity Series debut
Admittedly, the then-18-year-old made numerous mistakes throughout the race, spotlighted by following race leaders Ty Gibbs and Sam Mayer through the bus stop under caution. Zilisch started the final stage from the rear of the field and powered through the pack at a rapid pace. When the checkered flag waved, Zilisch became the seventh driver in series history to win their first Xfinity Series start.
“It was way above my expectations. To win the Xfinity race in my debut was unreal and kick-started things that I didn’t even expect,” Zilisch told NASCAR.com. “It was the start of something great with JR Motorsports. It’s been a wild turn of events the last 12 months. That entire weekend was a dream come true, and I’m glad I got to experience that and live that.”
As Zilisch has settled into the NASCAR landscape, the young driver has learned that he doesn’t always need to be racing at 100% to win. The main adjustment? Just be in contention and capitalize at the end.
“As I’ve started to learn that, I’ve started to run better and be more consistent,” Zilisch said.
JR Motorsports co-owner Dale Earnhardt Jr., who has seen Zilisch hone his racing talents first-hand, believes the young star shares similar qualities to NASCAR immortals Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson, two superpowers among NASCAR’s elite.
“I don’t know when or how [Trackhouse] will plan to announce his future, but I think we can all see the writing on the wall,” Earnhardt said at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. “I think that kid has potential to do incredible, incredible, Hall of Fame-worthy things. I’m glad he is driving our car.”
Zilisch enters Watkins Glen on a heater, earning top-five finishes in 10 consecutive races. Over the last eight events, he’s gained 188 points on JRM teammate Justin Allgaier and is tied for the regular-season championship lead, even after missing a race due to a back injury. Since Pocono Raceway in late June, the No. 88 Chevrolet has won four of the last seven races, including a three-race win streak that was capped at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, delivering JRM’s 100th victory.
“I’ve done what I wanted to do,” Zilisch said of his rookie campaign. “I knew that starting the year, it wasn’t going to be easy. It takes time, but we’ve gotten better as the year has gone on and have started running up front consistently. It’s given us a lot of confidence going into the end of the year, and I wanted to start building this momentum before the playoffs.
“Come playoff time, you want to be swinging in the right direction and have momentum on your side, and I feel like we’re doing that right now.”
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Away from the track, Zilisch remains a focal point in Josh Wise’s Wise Optimization program, assisting select Chevrolet drivers in their development to test their physical and mental limits. Zilisch, who considers Wise his primary mentor, found a home in the program long before making his Xfinity debut.
Ahead of Zilisch’s four-race stint with JRM in 2024, Wise repeatedly stated that he wanted the rookie to make mistakes, only for Zilisch to not feel the outside pressure. Even now, Wise doesn’t treat him any differently as he leads the junior program of Chevy racers.
“I wanted him to see that this is about getting experience and learning, not about some expectation that is coming at him at some different angle,” Wise said. “Mistakes are the greatest opportunities for us to learn and grow. We see mistakes as incredible opportunities. While it’s great that we don’t have them when we’re executing flawlessly, that’s just not realistic.”
While speed is evident, Zilisch has overcome multiple errors in 2025. He’s notably tangled with Allgaier, most recently at Iowa Speedway when the No. 7 car spun while battling at the front of the field. Contact with fellow rookie and JRM teammate Carson Kvapil also cut down a tire on the No. 1 Chevrolet at Circuit of The Americas in March, a race Zilisch went on to win.
With JRM having four full-time teams, dustups will naturally happen. Zilisch just hopes the No. 88 can continue executing at a high level.
“Top fives are good, but winning in the playoff system is such a bonus,” Zilisch said. “You want to win races, and it pays so well, points-wise, to win the races.”
With such a hefty playoff point total, Zilisch will have opportunities for a mulligan in the first two rounds of the postseason. The teenager, mature enough to be a grizzly veteran, recognizes that, even if he makes the Championship 4 at Phoenix Raceway, the challenge will be an enormous one.
“As good of a chance that I feel like we’ll have, no doubt it will be difficult if we even make it,” he said.
Zilisch will next pull triple duty for the first time in his young career at Watkins Glen, making his fourth Cup Series start and filling in for Niece Motorsports in Friday’s Craftsman Truck Series race. With Trackhouse Racing and Daniel Suárez parting ways after 2025, Zilisch, who has a developmental deal with the organization, has his sights set on Cup Series racing and doesn’t take the 2025 opportunity lightly.
MORE: Xfinity Series standings | Xfinity Series schedule
“I wish we could do more, but it’s really difficult to run a fourth car for Trackhouse,” Zilisch said of running select Cup races in 2025. “I’ve tried to make the most of the starts that I’ve had. I’ve learned so much from racing at Charlotte (Motor Speedway); that was such a long race. It was basically a 400-lap test session for me, and even though I didn’t run very well, I wanted to try different things every lap and learn what I could. Atlanta as well, just surviving the chaos and getting a good finish out of it was good for me and my confidence to allow me to feel like I could belong in the Cup Series.
“These starts are important. It’s a big jump from Xfinity to Cup, not only with the car but talent level. I have my work cut out for me and I have a lot to learn when I do make the jump to Sunday racing, but I’m trying to do all that I can now to prepare myself for it.”
With humbling experience gained over his first three career Cup Series races — including an 11th-place result at EchoPark Speedway near Atlanta — Zilisch wouldn’t shock anyone if he contended at The Glen. Such road-course expertise from the youngster — including defeating Shane van Gisbergen in the Xfinity race at Sonoma Raceway last month — plays a part.
“I expect to be able to be as fast as anybody, but the racing is a lot different,” Zilisch said. “We could show up and have a car that’s not capable of winning, and that’s just part of Sunday racing.
“Trackhouse has been fast on road courses with Shane, and I feel like I’m naturally talented enough to run with him, but he’s a lot more polished than I am. It would take a really strong race for me to run up with him and the fast guys in the Cup Series. There is no doubt about it that I can’t do it.”
As for advancing to the Cup Series full time, those around Zilisch believe he’s ready for that step, no matter what happens in the final third of the Xfinity season.
“From where I sit, Connor is ready to go experience the Cup Series and learn,” Wise said. “I think he’s shown that he has the pace, vehicle control and the psychology to go and race at the highest level of motorsports.”
Seven races remain on the 2025 Modified Tour schedule, and the battle for the series championship is coming into focus.