Dale Earnhardt Jr. Believes Connor Zilisch Could Be the Next Big Superstar NASCAR Is Looking For

There is no questioning the potential Connor Zilisch has, and no one recognizes that better than NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Unless Zilisch completely unravels in the NASCAR Xfinity Series playoffs, which began Friday at Bristol Motor Speedway, he stands as the odds-on favorite to capture the Xfinity championship this season.

Coming into the race at Bristol, the Mooresville, North Carolina native has dominated the Xfinity Series so far, with nine wins, 15 top-five finishes (including three runner-up results), and 17 top-10 finishes in the 25-race regular season, which earned him the regular-season championship. If he carries that form into the final stretch, Zilisch should finish the campaign on top.

And that championship, as well as his hoped-for overall Xfinity Series title, would be a victory for JR Motorsports, the Xfinity Series team co-owned by Earnhardt Jr. and his sister, Kelley Earnhardt Miller.

During an appearance Friday at the Hard Rock Casino in nearby Bristol, Virginia (just across the state line from Bristol, Tennessee, home of Bristol Motor Speedway), the son of the legendary Dale Earnhardt once again praised Zilisch’s potential to become NASCAR’s next big superstar, joining voices like Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, and, of course, Earnhardt himself.

“Connor Zilisch is just a generational kind of talent,” Earnhardt said. “I feel like he’s got a real opportunity to be a big star in the sport. The sport needs personalities always, right?

“We’ve got great personalities in the sport now, but they move on, and you’ve got to have another group coming in and filling that void.”

“I think he could be something special for NASCAR and fans and take our sport to places where he’d be eager to take us.”

Post Edited By: Somin Bhattacharjee

Bristol Motor Speedway Connor Zilisch Dale Earnhardt Jr.

About the author

Jerry Bonkowski

Jerry Bonkowski is a veteran sportswriter who has worked full-time for many of the top media outlets in the world, including USA Today (15 years), ESPN.com (4+ years), Yahoo Sports (4 1/2 years), NBCSports.com (8 years) and others. He has covered virtually every major professional and collegiate sport there is, including the Chicago Bulls' six NBA championships (including heavy focus on Michael Jordan), the Chicago Bears Super Bowl XX-winning season, the Chicago White Sox and Chicago Cubs World Series championships, two of the Chicago Blackhawks' NHL titles, Tiger Woods' PGA Tour debut, as well as many years of beat coverage of the NFL, MLB, NHL and NBA for USA Today. But Jerry's most notable achievement has been covering motorsports, most notably NASCAR, IndyCar, NHRA drag racing and Formula One. He has had a passion for racing since he started going to watch drag races at the old U.S. 30 Dragstrip (otherwise known as "Where the Great Ones Run!") in Hobart, Indiana. Jerry has covered countless NASCAR, IndyCar and NHRA races and championship battles over the years. He's also the author of a book, "Trading Paint: 101 Great NASCAR Debates", published in 2010 (and he's hoping to soon get started on another book). Away from sports, Jerry was a fully sworn part-time police officer for 20 years, enjoys reading and music (especially "hair bands" from the 1980s and 1990s), as well as playing music on his electric keyboard, driving (fast, of course!), spending time with Cyndee his wife of nearly 40 years, the couple's three adult children and three grandchildren (with more to come!), and his three dogs -- including two German Shepherds and an Olde English Bulldog who thinks he's a German Shepherd.. Jerry still gets the same excitement of seeing his byline today as he did when he started in journalism as a 15-year-old high school student. He is looking forward to writing hundreds, if not thousands, of stories in the future for TheSportsRush.com, as well as interacting with readers.

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