Before Connor Zilisch’s Xfinity Series debut, Josh Wise advised him to prepare like his life depended on it and race like it didn’t matter. The idea was to take the pressure off.The hype train begins.”As we’ve all seen, he’s going to be the next superstar,” AJ Allmendinger said. Zilisch was the best of the field on Saturday, starting in free practice, when the Chevrolet No. 1. The 88 was almost four tenths of a second ahead of the field. The 18-year-old confirmed this speed during qualifying, taking pole for his debut in the series. Unlike the first round of his Craftsman Truck Series debut at Circuit of The Americas, Zilisch made it through Turn 1 without incident.He left the peloton in the dust, winning the first stage by more than 10 seconds.
Zilisch moved to the front at the end of the stage to recover and was pulled away in 14th place, losing five places in no longer the track for the drivers who scored in the special stage. Methodically,the No.88 made his way through the field and finished the second leg in third position behind two Cup Series playoff drivers,William Byron and Ty Gibbs.After a lap 45 caution that saw regular season championship leader Justin Allgaier stuck in the gravel trap,Gibbs,Sam Mayer and Zilisch all came through the inside loop.The penalty was shared at the back of the pack,”It was stupid of me,”Zilisch said.”Honestly,I thought that Ty and Sam knew more than me and they should have,I thought that these guys who have competed in this series for a few years would have made the right choices,so I thought,”Okay,I’ll follow them and I’m trying to be cool”.Then I found myself at the bottom of the pack.In a chaotic second half of the race,the penalty ended up being a blessing in disguise for Zilisch.Team no.88overhauled Zilisch’s car,putting out his fuel window to get to the checkered flag.Andrew Overstreet,crew chief for the #88 car, informed Zilisch that he needed to save a gallon of gas,the equivalent of about twice the road of 2.45 kilometers.
While most drivers had to stop for extra time, Zilisch made it up the mountain, ahead of Gibbs and Mayer. Veteran TJ Majors taught the young driver how to save fuel,even though he had experience driving an LMP2 car for Era Motorsport.
Entering Turn 1,Zilisch took his foot off the start/finish line and corrected the turn.On the right rear,he raised”two football fields” in front of the stop sign. Zilisch was on his way to the win until Matt DiBenedetto brought out a pit stop caution with six laps to go.After a multi-car pile-up in Turn 1 on the restart, Zilisch had to think about the next restart,more than 20 minutes later under the red flag.In the second overtime, Kaulig Racing teammates Shane van Gisbergen and Allmendinger crossed the fenders for second, allowing Sheldon Creed to pass,Meanwhile Zilisch ran away with a considerable lead. Another yellow flag was used in the last lap,which allowed Zilisch to return to the finish line,becoming the seventh driver in the history of the series to win in his debut meant for me,”he added Zilisch.”I worked hard for this race;I prepared for more than three months,Other than the [Rolex] 24 Hours, it was probably the biggest race of the year for me. To come here and prove to myself that I can do it and compete at the highest level is special for me.
Zilisch had enough fuel for a burnout in Turn 1,then another as a cloud of smoke filled the right.Working under a development contract with Trackhouse Racing, Zilisch was getting very close to Shane van Gisbergen. It was van Gisbergen and Scott Speed who welcomed Zilisch to the Red Bull family on Friday.New Zealand knows a thing or two about getting a first series win – hello Chicago’s first road race – and knows the talent is evident in Zilisch.”It’s “Great to see the effort that he is putting and how well, he has at his age is very impressive,” said van Gisbergen “It was incredible to watch.Allmendinger finished third in the standings and didn’t think he could scare Zilisch during several restarts late in the race.Instead, he was impressed by the fluidity of the 18-year-old.”His car control is phenomenal,” Allmendinger said of Zilisch,”He did a great job on all those restarts and everything we threw at him, but he has phenomenal speed and is in a really good car, which helps.”After the race, Zilisch celebrated with his No. 88 team, as it was also Overstreet’s first triumph as crew chief. Several Cup stars, including 2023 champion Ryan Blaney, Tyler Reddick, Noah Gragson and Zane Smith, all showed their gratitude.
“It’s nice that people tell me that,but the most important thing is that I have to stay true to myself and understand that I’m not at the highest level and I’m not winning at the highest level,but at the highest level” Zilisch said. “Until I achieve that,I won’t call myself a superstar.”
The only thing Zilisch didn’t accomplish Saturday was becoming the youngest driver to win an Xfinity Series race (he was a month and two days short).This record is still held by two-time Cup champion Joey Logano. Logano is familiar with the labels attached to him, having been called “the biggest thing since sliced bread” by Mark Martin at a young age.
