Connor Zilisch’s Xfinity chapter is nearing its close, and next season he’ll step into NASCAR’s top tier, ready to mix it up with the sport’s heavyweights. But before trading elbows with the Cup field, the 19-year-old has built strong bonds within his JR Motorsports circle, especially with his fellow driver Jesse Love. Reflecting on his time in the Xfinity garage, Zilisch opened up about his friendships, the grind of life on the road, and how far he’s come since his early karting days.
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Appearing alongside Justin Allgaier on Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s latest podcast, Zilisch shared how his ties with several Xfinity rivals trace back to his go-karting years.
Zilisch recalled that in 2021, before breaking into NASCAR, he worked with Toyota’s karting program, earning “100 bucks a day” to coach their development drivers. Back then, the Trackhouse Racing talent was just trying to put his name on the map, looking for exposure, hoping for a shot.
That gig turned out to be his first link to many of the drivers he now battles weekly, including Jesse Love. “I was a go-kart racer, and I was a road racer. And I didn’t know any of the kids that I was helping… And now that I look back on it, it’s kind of funny because all those drivers that I was helping, I’m now racing against. So, I met Jesse through that, and we clicked pretty quickly. And, yeah, we’ve been friends ever since.”
Zilisch acknowledged how vital those connections have become over a grueling NASCAR season. “It’s hard to go through a 33, 35, 38 week schedule and not have people that you can travel with and say I’m friends with that guy. I can hang out with him,” he said.
“You can become miserable pretty quickly. So I’ve found it important to find people that I enjoy hanging out with on the road. And Jesse’s been someone that I’ve been able to be friends with for the last few years.”
For Zilisch, friendship and competition go hand in hand. He believes that he and Love push each other to be better, not bitter. Whenever the weight of NASCAR starts to feel heavy, he leans on his fellow racers, proving that even in a sport built on rivalries, camaraderie still drives the heart of the garage.
