Dale Earnhardt Jr. thinks very highly of his Xfinity Series driver, Connor Zilisch. And in more ways than one. Earnhardt and his sister, Kelley Earnhardt Miller, are both co-owners of JR Motorsports and know a thing or two about living on their own early in life, having attended military boarding school in their early teens. But that’s nothing compared to Zilisch’s story.
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The Mooresville, North Carolina native knew from a very young age that he wanted to be a race car driver and was bound and determined to achieve that goal. With unwavering support from his parents, Zilisch pursued his dream by racing overseas early in his career. While a number of other young drivers have done exactly that, how many have done it and been on their own at the age of 12?
Wait a minute, only 12 years old? That has to be a mistake, right? Nope, that’s true indeed. Zilisch wasn’t even a teenager when he moved to Europe to test his ability against drivers on the other side of the Atlantic. He just turned 19 on July 22, but it’s a testament to his talent and ability that he raced overseas on his own before he even turned 13. That completely blows Earnhardt away.
“I mean, the only thing I think (Zilisch’s level of talent at such an early age) it’s close to is probably Jeff Gordon or Jimmie Johnson,” Earnhardt said Saturday during media availability at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. “He might be even more of a comet. He might be even more rare than that.
“If y’all get a chance to spend time around him, you’ll realize how mature he is. And there’s probably a lot of parents that would be amazed at his level of maturity at (19) years old. His mom and dad sent him overseas at 12 to race go-karts by himself. They didn’t go with him. They didn’t send a cousin or a brother or sister or anybody. He only knew one individual over there.
“And as Connor tells it, he had to ride a bicycle up and down the road every day to get his dinner, his lunch, his breakfast, get his hair cut, get his mail, do everything at 12. I’m sure he had some guidance, but how that matured him is insane.”
It didn’t take long for Zilisch to prove his mettle in Europe, winning the Mini Rok World Championship in South Garda, Italy at the aforementioned age of 12, against 160 other competitors from 33 different countries, most of them older than him.
In 2020, when he was 14, Zilisch became the first American to ever win the CIK-FIA Karting Academy Trophy, a three-race series that showcased some of the best young drivers in the world.
From there, Zilisch returned to the U.S. and began his climb to NASCAR, including stints in IMSA sports car racing, ARCA and eventually into a development program with Trackhouse Racing that included being “loaned” to JRM for Xfinity competition.
Earnhardt wouldn’t let his daughters race overseas by themselves
Earnhardt and his wife Amy have two young daughters. If either child ever displayed racing talent or wanted to go overseas to race by themselves, Junior already has his answer prepared.
“I’ve got a seven and a four year old, but I ain’t never sending my 12-year-old overseas,” Earnhardt said. “Even if I knew it would turn out great, I just couldn’t bring myself to do it.
“There’s something that has positioned him in such a way that’s very unique and in terms of his maturity and his ability to understand the moment to make the mature decision. Now, he makes mistakes and we’ve seen him do that, but when it comes down to it, it’s pretty impressive to see him work.”
Zilisch has had a phenomenal season thus far in the Xfinity Series. His win Saturday at Indianapolis was his third in a row and a series-leading fifth overall in the season’s first 21 races, with 12 more to go. He’s second in the standings, just 21 points behind his JRM teammate, Justin Allgaier.
But that’s not all.
Saturday was a momentous day for JR Motorsports
Saturday’s win was historic as well, as it was the 100th Xfinity Series victory for JRM. To say Zilisch has a bright future is an understatement. He could very easily win the Xfinity championship this season and even if he did, he still wouldn’t be old enough to drink champagne to celebrate it.
“I just feel like we’re all kind of on the front end of witnessing this really incredible career,” Earnhardt said. “It’s almost whatever he wants to do.”
