Saturday’s Xfinity Series race at Sonoma Raceway turned into yet another thrilling battle between Connor Zilisch and Shane van Gisbergen, following their showdown in Chicago last weekend. This time, however, it was Zilisch who came out on top. The 18-year-old spoke to the press after his fourth win of his NASCAR career and praised SVG for racing him cleanly.
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In Chicago, after a late restart caused by a caution, the Australian Supercars champion controversially forced Zilisch wide in Turn 1 to take the checkered flag. While the move was legal under the official regulations, Zilisch wished the racing had been a bit more ethical. Apparently, SVG heard him, for he reacted differently when a similar situation unfolded at Sonoma.
During the race’s final run, both drivers had to be mindful of saving fuel. They were exchanging the lead multiple times and racing each other hard when SVG gave Zilisch a bump in Turn 7. He could have taken advantage of the youngster’s slip at that moment to move ahead for the win, but he chose to let him keep the lead. This left Zilisch extremely impressed.
He said, “I don’t think that’s the way he wanted to do it, which I really do respect. It takes a lot for a guy to do that. And for him to do that shows a lot about the driver and the person he is.
“That’s kind of what I expected last week, but this is what I got this week. I think he knew what he did last week and probably didn’t want to have to do the same thing again to win the race.”
Xfinity Sonoma winner @ConnorZilisch runs through his race and battle with @shanevg97 in the closing laps.#NASCAR pic.twitter.com/rBnjaa9VDL
— Frontstretch (@Frontstretch) July 13, 2025
Zilisch cleared SVG at the exit of the final corner and claimed his win. The duo was a big part of an amazing Xfinity Series showing that saw few on-track incidents, and more impressively, finished over 13 seconds clear of third place William Sawalich.
Shane van Gisbergen’s admission about his race against Zilisch
Shane van Gisbergen’s expertise on road courses is simply unmatched, even by the best drivers in the Cup Series. But Zilisch got the job done perfectly. It showcased the immense talent that the JR Motorsports recruit has. His growing reputation was only boosted further by the Kiwi’s words of praise in the post-race interview.
SVG said, “Couldn’t do it [win] without wrecking them. So, I tried every trick I could, but he drove so well. In the last lap, into (Turn) 7, I got there but wheel-hopped, pushed him wide. Could have gone (in front), but I just waited. I didn’t want to do it like that. So, yeah. Had a fun day.”
Zilisch has every reason to be on cloud nine after hearing those words.
