NASCAR mourns loss of a 38 year mayor after a brief illness.

NASCAR mourns loss of a 38 year mayor after a brief illness.

NASCAR has long been made on big names and superstar drivers. That tradition has carried on throughout the 75-plus years of the sport. Sometimes drivers have come out of nowhere. Then some drivers become overnight superstars. The best kind of superstar racers are those who are labeled as a ‘phenom’. NASCAR certainly has one of those who can’t be denied.

Connor Zilisch has quickly become the future of the sport. Sure he has come more from a road-racing background, but he’s just recently turned 18, and made history already, in his first-ever NASCAR Xfinity Series start. The kid’s name has been popping up all season, as Trackhouse Racing quickly signed him near the beginning of the 2024 season. Sure he was still only 17 and pretty unproven behind the wheel of a stock car.

Boy has things only taken off from there. Zilisch now finds himself in rare air alongside the likes of some of the best drivers in NASCAR history, especially when it comes to the word phenom.

Connor Zilisch is NASCAR’s Next Phenom

Zilisch was already viewed as an up-and-coming star in the NASCAR community. This past weekend at Watkins Glen further proved why he has arrived. Not only did he win his fifth ARCA Series win of the year. He also made his Xfinity Series debut for JR. Motorsports.

He was behind the wheel of Dale Jr’s famed No. 88 car and went out and sat on the pole. That wasn’t enough though, as the 18-year went out and held off the series’ best to win the Mission 200 at the Glen. In doing so he joined an exclusive list of drivers in Xfinity Series history. Zilisch became the seventh driver to win in his Xfinity Series debut. Other drivers on that list include Dale Earnhardt Sr, Joe Ruttman, Ricky Rudd, Terry Labonte, Kurt Busch, and Ty Gibbs.