After High Praise From Kyle Larson, NASCAR Breakout Star Connor Zilisch Credits Ross Chastain for Support

Connor Zilisch (7) heads to the starting line for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Xpel 225 at the Circuit of the Americas on Saturday, March 23, 2024 in Austin.

After ripping through qualifying and setting record speeds in COTA, 17-year-old Connor Zilisch went on to earn a well-deserved top-5 in the Craftsman Truck Series race. Regarded as one of the brightest talents in NASCAR, he earned great praise from Kyle Larson for the caliber that he displayed during the qualifying run.

After his race ended, he spoke to the media and thanked Trackhouse Racing teammate Ross Chastain for helping secure the historic finish. Chastain was one of Zilisch’s competitors on the field during the race on Saturday. 

Zilisch said after the race, “He let me by on that last restart and kind of made it easy on me to get by. He’s a really good guy and he’s helped me a lot getting to this point. I’m sure he’ll continue to be a good teammate for me, but you know it’s really cool to have him on my side. Have him support me.”

Under his agreement to be a development driver for Trackhouse Racing, Zilisch gets to drive select races across multiple racing series. On Saturday, his effort came in the truck of Spire Motorsports. He faced multiple hurdles through the race and persisted continually to finish inside the top 5. Zilisch further revealed that Chastain had spoken to him after the race and asked him to keep his head up.

The high expectations that Kyle Larson had for Zilisch after qualifying

When a renowned driver like Larson demands a youngster to “smash” the field during a NASCAR race, it shows exemplary potential. That’s what Larson said to Zilisch before the weekend. Talking to the media, the Hendrick star revealed that he’d been paying a lot of attention to Zilisch after hearing that he was one of the best drivers seen in a long time.

“I’ve gotten to be around him a fair amount of time through the Chevy program,” he said, as reported by Fox Sports, and continued how Zilisch had taught his son, Owen, to drive karts.

“I’m disappointed he was only three-quarters of a second faster than the field and not more than that because I figured he would be. But I texted him earlier this week and I was like, ‘Man, you should smash the field this weekend.”

Abiding by Larson’s words, Zilisch did end up smashing the field, as Chastain would agree. 

Post Edited By: Ankit Sharma
Connor Zilisch Kyle Larson Ross Chastain

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Gowtham Ramalingam

Gowtham is a NASCAR journalist at The SportsRush. Though his affinity for racing stems from Formula 1, he found himself drawn to NASCAR's unparalleled excitement over the years. As a result he has shared his insights and observations by authoring over 3000 articles on the sport. An avid fiction writer, you can find him lost in imaginary worlds when he is not immersed in racing. He hopes to continue savoring the thrill of every lap and race together with his readers for as long as he can.

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