WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — Teenage racing phenom Connor Zilisch delivered on the hype of his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut in a major way Saturday, winning at the Watkins Glen International road course after he stretched the fuel of his No. 88 car enough to take the checkered flag.
Zilisch, a North Carolina racing prodigy trained in Europe, was born in July 2006 and recently turned 18 — the minimum age to be licensed to drive in the Xfinity Series, which is NASCAR’s version of Triple-A baseball.
“I don’t even have words,” an emotional Zilisch said after the race. “I worked for this one for months. It’s so special to me, man. I’m going to enjoy this one for a while.
“That’s special. One of one, not bad.”
REPOST to congratulate Connor Zilisch! 🏁
He makes HISTORY, becoming the seventh driver in NASCAR Xfinity Series history to win their debut race. pic.twitter.com/qHcVOpx8FU
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) September 14, 2024
Zilisch was fastest in practice, won the pole position and led every lap of Stage 1 — but a bizarre penalty with 35 laps to go put him at the back of the field.
Zilisch’s strategy was then to try and make his fuel last long enough to not pit again, and the wunderkind did just that as crew chief Andrew Overstreet and spotter T.J. Majors coached him on the team radio.
The win was another head-shaking moment for Zilisch, a Trackhouse Racing development driver who races for JR Motorsports, the team co-owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr. This year alone, he won America’s two most prestigious road races (the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring) and quickly adapted to stock car racing with five wins in six ARCA starts (including at the Glen on Friday).
Zilisch also won the pole in his Truck Series debut in March at Circuit of the Americas, but he blew Turn 1 and ended up finishing fourth instead. But this time, Zilisch calmly and smoothly had a mistake-free drive — at least until his strange penalty.
After a caution for Justin Allgaier with 35 laps to go, each of the top three cars — Ty Gibbs, Sam Mayer and Zilisch — mistakenly took a shortcut on the course. NASCAR penalized the trio and sent all three to the back of the field.
“Oh my gosh,” Zilisch said on the team radio. “I just did what they did.”
It was questionable as to whether Zilisch could save enough gas to see the finish of two overtimes, but caution laps and a red flag helped him conserve more fuel.
“I know you’re the best driver here,” Overstreet said before one restart. “Just go show it to ‘em.”
(Photo: Sean Gardner / Getty Images)
