When Shane van Gisbergen stepped up to the NASCAR Cup Series from Xfinity last year, Connor Zilisch arrived to make his Xfinity debut and expressed his gratitude that he would not have to share a rookie season with SVG. At 19, Zilisch understood the standard SVG sets on road courses. However, in the handful of races where they did cross paths, neither man backed down, both going for glory against their competitor.
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Walking the fine line of hard competition while giving each other enough respect, both drivers traded paint and yielded no ground during their battles in the now O’Reilly Series, especially at Chicago and Sonoma last year. From 2026, that rivalry will shift under one roof as both line up for Justin Marks’s Trackhouse Racing, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. sees value in that pairing. He believes the two will sharpen each other’s racing skills and grow from the exchange.
On the latest episode of the Dale Jr. Download podcast, Junior said, “I think Connor is going to continue to push SVG at the ovals. I think they’re both good for each other. SVG will challenge Connor at the road courses. And they’re both very competitive at the road courses, and they’re probably coming into the Cup Series going to find themselves actually racing around each other a lot on the ovals.”
However, wondering, “Will Connor spring forward as the season goes and get really, really, really improve at the ovals?” Dale Jr. added, “I’m not sure he could. I think that’s going to push SVG to continue to get better at ovals, and they will both push each other at the road courses to succeed. And I think that’s good for both drivers. Be interesting to see how their relationship develops over the course of the year cuz they seem to get along great.”
Their O’Reilly Series clashes were actually a sight to behold. Zilisch ran full-time, SVG entered part-time with JR Motorsports, and they met at the front while wins kept changing hands. At the Chicago Street Course in July 2025, SVG held off Zilisch on a late run to seal the race.
One week later at Sonoma Raceway, Zilisch returned serve, fending off SVG to bag his third NASCAR win and halt SVG’s streak on road courses. In August 2025 at Watkins Glen, they tangled while fighting for the lead near the end. The contact spun SVG to the rear, and Zilisch drove on to victory.
Zilisch has made three Cup starts and recorded one top-20 finish, which came at Atlanta. And now, he faces the task of settling into the Next Gen car full time, even though he knows the tracks pretty well.
Meanwhile, SVG has spent a season in the same environment and brings experience with equipment akin to what he drove in Australia during his Supercars tenure. That background will put him in a position to guide Zilisch as they chart their course in the Cup garage.
