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WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — In preparation of Connor Zilisch‘s Xfinity Series debut, Josh Wise told him to prepare like his life depended on it, and to compete like it doesn‘t matter. The idea was to eliminate the pressure.
The hype train storms on.
“As we‘ve all seen, he‘s going to be the next superstar,” AJ Allmendinger declared.
Zilisch was the class of the field on Saturday, beginning in practice when the No. 88 Chevrolet had nearly four-tenths of a second on the field. The 18-year-old backed that speed up in qualifying, scoring the pole for his series debut.
RELATED: Race results | Photos from Zilisch’s first win
Unlike the first lap of his Craftsman Truck Series debut at Circuit of The Americas, Zilisch made it through Turn 1 unscathed. He left the field in the dust, winning the opening stage by north of 10 seconds.
Zilisch pitted at the end of the stage for fuel and restarted 14th, losing five additional spots on pit road to drivers that scored stage points. Methodically, the No. 88 drove through the field and finished Stage 2 in third, trailing two Cup Series playoff drivers in William Byron and Ty Gibbs.
It all nearly slipped away.
Following a Lap 45 caution that saw regular season championship leader Justin Allgaier get stuck in the gravel pit, Gibbs, Sam Mayer and Zilisch all drove through the inner loop. The penalty was restarting at the tail of the field.
“It was dumb of me,” Zilisch said. “Honestly, I thought Ty and Sam knew better than me and I should have known better. I thought those guys that had been racing in this series for a few years would have been doing the right things, so I was like, ‘Alright, I‘ll just follow them and try to act cool.‘ Then, I was at the tail of the field.”
In a chaotic second half of the race, ultimately, the penalty was a blessing in disguise for Zilisch. The No. 88 team serviced Zilisch‘s car, putting him just on the outside of his fuel window to make it to the checkered flag. Andrew Overstreet, crew chief of the No. 88 car, informed Zilisch that he needed him to save a gallon of gas, equal to approximately two laps around the 2.45-mile road course.
While most of the field needed to pit an additional time, Zilisch rocketed through the field, gapping both Gibbs and Mayer. Veteran spotter TJ Majors coached the youngster on how to save fuel, though he had experience while driving an LMP2 car for Era Motorsport. Entering Turn 1, Zilisch would lift off the throttle at the start/finish line and finesse it through the corner. Down the backstretch, he would lift “two football fields” short of his brake marker.
Zilisch was on his way to victory until Matt DiBenedetto brought out the caution for stalling on the track with six laps remaining. After a multi-car pileup in Turn 1 on the restart, Zilisch had to think about the next restart, more than 20 minutes later under the red flag.
MORE: Drivers to win in Xfinity Series debut
In the second overtime, Kaulig Racing teammates Shane van Gisbergen and Allmendinger rubbed fenders for second, allowing Sheldon Creed to scoot by. Meanwhile, Zilisch escaped with a sizable lead. Another caution flew on the final lap, allowing Zilisch to coast back to the finish line, becoming the seventh driver in series history to win in their debut.
“It‘s hard to put into words how much this meant to me,” Zilisch added. “I worked so hard for this race; I‘ve been preparing for it for over three months. Outside of the [Rolex] 24, this was probably the biggest race of the year for me. To come out here and prove to myself that I can do it and compete at the highest level is special to me.”
Zilisch had enough fuel for a burn out in Turn 1 and then another as a smoke cloud filled the frontstretch.
Racing under a Trackhouse Racing developmental contact, Zilisch has grown close to Shane van Gisbergen. It was van Gisbergen and Scott Speed that welcomed Zilisch into the Red Bull family on Friday. The New Zealander knows a thing or two about winning a series debut — hello, inaugural Chicago Street Race — and know the talent is evident with Zilisch.
“It‘s awesome to see the effort that he puts in and how good he is at his age is pretty impressive,” he said. “It‘s been amazing to watch him.”
Allmendinger ended up third in the finishing order and didn‘t think he could intimidate Zilisch on multiple late-race restarts. Instead, he was wowed by how smooth the 18-year-older was.
“His car control is phenomenal,” Allmendinger said about Zilisch. “He did a great job on all of those restarts and everything we threw at him, but he has phenomenal speed and he‘s in a really good carl, that helps.”
Following the race, Zilisch celebrated with his No. 88 team, as it was also Overstreet‘s first triumph as a crew chief. Multiple Cup stars, including 2023 champion Ryan Blaney, Tyler Reddick, Noah Gragson and Zane Smith all showed their gratitude.
Despite the compassionate acts and high regard other drivers spoke about him, Zilisch won‘t let that enter his head.
“It’s cool to have people tell me that but the biggest thing is, I have to stay true to myself and understand that I‘m not at the highest level yet and I‘m not winning at the highest level yet,” he said. “Until I‘m doing that, I‘m not going to label myself a superstar.”
The only thing Zilisch didn‘t accomplish on Saturday was becoming the youngest driver to win an Xfinity Series race (he was one month and two days shy). That record still belongs to two-time Cup champion Joey Logano. Logano is familiar with having labels put on him, as he was dubbed “the greatest thing since sliced bread” by Mark Martin at an early age.
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