No prospect in NASCAR entered the 2025 season with more hype surrounding him than Connor Zilisch.
After winning his Xfinity Series debut at Watkins Glen International last year, the 18-year-old road racing ace immediately drew the "generational talent" label that has previously been bestowed unto young prodigies such as Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, and Kyle Busch. The only question was if his skills would translate to ovals.
In the past month, those questions have been answered with a resounding "yes".
Connor Zilisch's Pocono win should justify the hype and then some
Okay, sure, technically Pocono Raceway is a triangle, not an oval. But the point remains, and while much of the attention on Zilisch's race in Saturday's Explore the Pocono Mountains 250 was dominated by his crew chief (you might've heard of him), his performance can also be considered an official coming-out party that solidifies him as NASCAR's most promising talent in at least a decade.
In the race, Zilisch led 34 of 100 laps and passed Jesse Love for the win with five laps to go after driving from relatively deep in the field late in the going. It continues an eye-opening stretch of runs for the Trackhouse Racing prospect, who is on loan to JR Motorsports this season, as Justin Marks' team does not field an Xfinity Series program..
At Talladega Superspeedway in late April, Zilisch was leading on the final lap before contact sent him hard into the inside backstretch wall. He missed the following event at Texas Motor Speedway due to back pain from the accident, and ever since returning, his finishes in three oval races have been second, second, and first.
It was always a matter of when, rather than if, Zilisch would figure out the tracks with only left turns.
His progress on them has come ahead of schedule – again, reminder that he's only 18 – and that should be scary news for the rest of the NASCAR world. With Daniel Suarez languishing in 27th in the point standings for Trackhouse, there is no need to prolong the inevitable by keeping the young phenom below the top level beyond this season.
Zilisch would likely immediately contend for wins on road courses in Cup, and given the rapid development he has shown on ovals, he figures to be competitive on them before very long too. He is the greatest raw talent to enter NASCAR's ranks since Larson, a future multi-time Cup Series champion in the right situation, and after Saturday, the hype should only get louder than ever.