Denny Hamlin reacts to Connor Zilisch 'aggressive moves' at COTA, post-race attitude

Denny Hamlin liked how Connor Zilisch handled himself after winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) this past weekend. On the Actions Detrimental podcast, Hamlin shared his thoughts on Zilisch’s aggressive driving in the race, which led to a victory.

“Connor self admittedly was a little too anxious when he got back there in the pack and made some aggressive moves,” Hamlin said. “What I liked about Connor was that he kind of acknowledged it after the race that, ‘Hey, I got some guys I need to get in contact with that I made contact with.’

“He’s definitely very, very mature outside the race car. Inside the race car, his craft is amazing. It’s something that drivers like me will look at throughout the week to see how he’s approaching these tracks to make speed. It’s hard to ask much more from an 18-year-old to not get excited in those moments, and you’re going to have that. It’s always easy when you can run fast lap times, you qualify on the pool and you’re leading all the laps. But what happens when you face adversity?”

Denny Hamlin says Connor Zilisch has a ‘bright future’ in NASCAR

Hamlin continued, “This was a good test to mature him in the way that, ‘Okay, I’ve got to go to the back, let me be methodical.’ He wasn’t all that methodical, but still, it’s a great learning moment for him. He’s obviously going to have a huge, bright future in the sport.”

After winning the Xfinity Series COTA race, Connor Zilisch talked about the challenges he faced. “That was way harder than I wanted it to be, he said. “I did not drive a clean race at all… I was kind of mentally fogged halfway through that race. I made way too many mistakes… I was glad we were able to fight back.”

After competing in the Xfinity race, Zilisch made his Cup Series debut on Sunday. Unfortunately, the 18-year-old did not finish the race because he was collected in a wreck with teammate Daniel Suarez.

“Unfortunately, my teammate Connor was out there, and he hit me,” Suarez said. “I ended my race and his race. I could have spun out myself and keep going, but unfortunately, he was there. Sometimes, it’s hard. You have to make a decision to go left or go right, and there was a little bit of smoke. Unfortunately, he decided to go right, and there wasn’t much room there. So a little bit unfortunate, but the only thing we can do now is learn and move on.”