Watkins Glen Still Belongs to Connor Zilisch

Connor Zilisch may be experiencing a disappointing rookie season in NASCAR’s Cup Series, but when it comes to NASCAR’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, the 19-year-old remains undefeated at Watkins Glen International.

This year, Zilisch had to charge through the field, overcome some front-end damage that his JR Motorsports Chevrolet incurred with six laps remaining as he chased leader Jesse Love, and then pass his best friend on the final turn of the last lap to secure his 13th career O’Reilly victory and his second this season. He is now tied with Marcos Ambrose and Terry Labonte for three consecutive victories at Watkins Glen.

Zilisch said that on the final lap he didn’t plan to do anything “egregious” to move Love out of his way.

“I just wanted to show a nose and try and force him into making a mistake,” Zilisch said. “I made a mistake that took me out of contention for a little bit there. I wasn’t going to put him at cost because of it. I’ll do anything to win, but I’m not just going to ship the guy in the last corner to do it. I showed a nose and it was enough for him to lock his right front and wash up.”

Zilisch staked his claim on the 2.45-mile Watkins Glen road course in 2024 when he made his debut in the series then known as Xfinity shortly after turning 18 years old. That year he earned the pole as well as the victory. Last year, after winning the race, Zilisch fell off his car during his victory lane celebration and broke his collarbone. It was an accident that went viral on social media and will follow him for the rest of his career.

“I feel like I have memes on X (Twitter) every week about me falling,” Zilisch said with a chuckle. “After (Carson) Hocevar did what he did (at Talladega), I got tagged in so many things saying, ‘Don’t let Connor do this.’ I’m certainly never going to live that one down. I definitely get some comedic relief out of it.”

This year, Zilisch flattened his car’s rear tires during his victory burnout, and a wrecker had to tow him off the track. His crew then replaced the flat tires with new ones so he could drive to victory lane. In an effort to make sure he didn’t break his collarbone this year, Trackhouse Racing owner Justin Marks obtained a couch pillow from Zilisch’s RV and placed it beside the driver’s door before he exited the car through its roof hatch. He then slid down the car’s windshield and off the front of the car.

“I didn’t know what to do,” Zilisch said when asked if his exit through the car’s roof hatch was planned. “I was debating whether I wanted to climb out the roof, get out of the window and just maybe throw the ground a bird. I felt good to be back in that victory lane, and we’re now 2-to-1 against each other. I think I’ve got the upper hand.”

While Zilisch celebrated, Love couldn’t hide his disappointment at letting the victory slip through his fingers. The dejected Love, who defeated Zilisch for the series championship last year, said there were “a hundred small mistakes” that allowed Zilisch to get close to him.

“At the end of the day, the glaring piece of it is I had a bad corner,” the dejected Love said. “I had a bad corner. All I want to do is beat Connor here (Watkins Glen). We’re best friends and we’ve caused each other a lot of pain. I didn’t execute when I needed to, and I think the reason I’m so quiet is I’m just embarrassed. As a driver, you can’t make those mistakes, and it was such a bad mistake, it’s just embarrassing. I know that I’ll learn from this and be better because of it, but I let down a lot of people, including myself… maybe it’s probably a good idea for me to feel this pain right now.”

Zilisch’s mother was the first person to Love after the race, consoling him with a hug before going to her son’s celebration in victory lane.

“Jesse’s parents treat me like family and… my parents do their best to do the same,” Zilisch said. “It means a lot to be able to race against one of my best friends pretty often. He’s gonna make his way to the Cup Series here soon. I’ll look forward to making more enemy friendship, whatever you call it, on the race track. We always respect each other and push each other to be better off the track.”