Zilisch Impresses In First Xfinity Series Oval Start

Connor Zilisch (HHP/Jacy Norgaard photo)

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Connor Zilisch may not have been able to make NASCAR Xfinity Series history with a second win in as many starts, but he still showed out impressively in his first JR Motorsports appearance on an oval.

Zilisch qualified and finished fourth in Saturday’s Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway, starting out his day in the Sunflower State by leading practice, sitting on top of the qualifying charts for a short period, and then capping off the proceedings at the 1.5-mile oval with a steady, veteran-like drive.

The 18-year-old from Mooresville, N.C., spent all but three of the 200 laps inside the top 15, averaging a seventh-place running position throughout and running as high as third at the halfway point of the race.

Though he never quite had the speed to challenge eventual winner Aric Almirola or defending series champion Cole Custer, Zilisch was consistently “best of the rest” in the No. 88 KOA/RTIC Chevrolet Camaro and maintained his presence inside the top five.

Finishing fourth behind Almirola, Custer, and race-long dominator Chandler Smith – who led five times for 114 laps – was “pretty much all I could have asked for,” according to the teenager afterward.

“It was sick, honestly,” said Zilisch, who won his series debut at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International, of the fun he had throughout the 300-mile race Saturday.

“Just running the fence, I’d never done that before, so my right side’s probably more beat up than everyone else’s … but I didn’t blow a tire and we got to the finish, so that really was the biggest goal checked off. I learned a ton. From where I was in stage one to where I ended the race, there was just a huge difference. I’m really proud of that [growth] and just really proud of my entire team. We made great adjustments all day and I was able to move forward.

“I wish we could have had a little more toward the end – that last stage I probably had a winning car with a 10th-place driver – but we finished fourth and we’ll take that to keep building on.”

The biggest thing that stood out to Zilisch was the fact that his race could have ended before it ever got going, after he had to make a masterful save in traffic while battling inside the top five on the opening lap.

Zilisch’s car got nearly 45 degrees sideways in turns three and four after Almirola took the air off the spoiler of the No. 88, but he held onto it and regained control despite slipping back as far as 12th.

Connor Zilisch (88) battles Parker Kligerman early in the Kansas Lottery 300. (HHP/Tom Copeland photo)

“We practiced in the morning when it was [colder], and that was the only real reference I had, so when we fired off there … and it was really hot and slick, it was a lot to manage at first and I wasn’t really expecting it,” explained Zilisch of the tricky conditions early in the race. “When Aric packed air [on the rear of the car] there, I got really loose and then just was fighting loose [handling] all over at the beginning.”

He later had a second huge moment prior to the first caution at lap six, while battling outside of teammate Sam Mayer, but again reined in his race car and continued on.

“Just continued all day to fight and to learn as much as I could throughout the day. It was a ton of fun out there,” Zilisch continued. “This place is so cool. These cars raced so well. JRM brought such a good race car and Andrew [Overstreet, crew chief] did such a good job keeping me calm. I had a blast.”

With his run Saturday, Zilisch became the fifth driver to finish inside the top five in their first two Xfinity Series races with JRM, joining Ron Fellows (2008-’09), Kasey Kahne (2011), Kevin Harvick (2014), and Carson Kvapil.

Notably, Kvapil accomplished the feat earlier this year at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway and Dover (Del.) Motor Speedway, with the same No. 88 team Zilisch was with Saturday at Kansas.

Zilisch is also the third driver in history to start and finish their first two races at NASCAR’s second-highest level inside the top five. Jody Ridley and NASCAR Hall of Famer David Pearson both did so in 1982, the first season of the modern-era Xfinity Series.

With two Xfinity Series starts left this season before he goes full time with JRM in 2025, Zilisch will return to the No. 88 on Saturday, Oct. 26 at Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway in the Contender Boats 300. He’ll also contest the season finale at Arizona’s Phoenix Raceway on Nov. 9.

And he may have won five of his eight national ARCA Menards Series starts this season, but Saturday arguably marked Zilisch’s first true test on a “big track” in his brief stock car career.

If his car control – let alone his eventual finish – was an indicator of success, Zilisch passed at Kansas with flying colors.