Connor Zilisch overcomes penalty, rallies back for wild Watkins Glen win in Xfinity Series debut
In an amazing fuel-saving performance, Connor Zilisch put on a show and won in his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut! 18 years old and a win at Watkins Glen over Cup Series talents in the Xfinity Series. This kid is the real deal.
Even when other drivers ran out of fuel, Connor Zilisch was able to save enough to win and do a burnout. This race had an extended red flag, multiple overtimes, and Zilisch held on long enough to win.
He won Stage 1, overcame a penalty with 32 laps to go in the race, and still won the Mission 200 at Watkins Glen. A historic performance.
Earlier in the race, Connor Zilisch won Stage 2 by over 10 seconds. He won the ARCA race over Toyota and Joe Gibbs Racing development driver William Sawalich by more than 12 seconds.
Every time this kid has stepped into a car, he has excelled. 24 Hours of Daytona, 12 Hours of Sebring, Mazda MX-5 Cup, CARS Tour, Truck Series, Xfinity Series – it doesn’t matter.
In fact, I’m pretty convinced that you could put Zilisch in the Cup race tomorrow and he could pull out a top-10. We are going to be hearing a lot more about this guy. He will be racing full-time in the Xfinity Series in 2025 with JR Motorsports. Today was just a preview.
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Connor Zilisch emotional after Xfinity Series win
This race featured Ty Gibbs, AJ Allmendinger, Shane van Gisbergen, Ross Chastain, Joey Logano, and so many talented Xfinity Series drivers. Connor Zilisch beat them all. He went out, won the pole, won Stage 1, and ultimately, the race.
Despite being young, Zilisch is passionate. He cares. You could tell by his emotion after the race was over. He almost burst into tears talking about all of the hard work he has put into the Watkins Glen performance.
“I don’t even have words. I’ve worked so hard for this one,” Zilisch said, fighting back tears. “I’ve been working for this one for months and it’s so special to me man. I don’t even have words right now. I don’t know how I saved enough, I sputtered up the hill with two to go I didn’t think I was going to make it back to the line, I was saving the last two laps. But man, I’m going to enjoy this one for a while.”
Connor Zilisch is the real deal. Get used to seeing him around because he is well on his way to taking over NASCAR. If you think that he is a one-trick pony, you’re mistaken. Zilisch has an oval win in the CARS Tour at Hickory as well as multiple oval wins in the ARCA Menards Series.