While Connor Zilisch has amassed 10 wins during his rookie NASCAR Xfinity season, the driver knows it could all mean nothing if he doesn't perform at Phoenix. That has added pressure to his shoulders heading into Saturday.
, driving for Trackhouse Racing, he hopes he can close out what has been a dominant season with a championship trophy for his growing trophy case. But, at least for one last year, the NASCAR National Series championships are decided in a weird, convoluted Playoff elimination format, which concludes with a one-race winner-take-all format.
In a sport where there are so many intangibles and moving parts that can derail a single race for any driver, it just feels wrong. While Zilisch has had one of the all-time great seasons in NASCAR Xfinity Series history, if he doesn't perform at a high level on Saturday night, all of that effort throughout the opening 32 weeks of the season means nothing. Talk about pressure. "Yeah, this weekend is a big weekend for me. We've done a lot this year, but it all means nothing if we don't perform on Saturday. So, there's definitely a lot of added pressure because of that," Zilisch said during Thursday's Championship 4 Media Day. That's a staggering statement, and as we've seen this season, it takes a lot for the task at hand to apply pressure of any kind to the seemingly unflappable rookie. But, like it or not, that's what the Playoff format has achieved this season. Zilisch admits that before he went on his magical run of 18 consecutive top-five finishes, an all-time NASCAR Xfinity Series record, which included nine victories, he wasn't sure how his rookie season was going to turn out. He knew that his JR Motorsports team were providing incredibly fast cars, Zilisch, however, questioned if he knew what to do with that speed."I knew early on that the speed was there, but I didn't know if I, myself, was going to be able to put it all together. You know, it's hard to do. Especially as a rookie, racing against guys, who are really talented and have been doing this for a long time," Zilisch said. "Justin is very experienced, and I never knew if I was going to be able to put races together as well as him to be able to win this many. But thankfully, I have a lot of good people in my corner who gave me the right advice. I quickly realized what it was going to take to win races, and once I kind of started winning, I quickly realized what I needed to do to be able to do it consistently." Zilisch credits his unconventional path to the NASCAR National Series, which included stops in go-karts, sports cars, and a plethora of other vehicles for allowing him to adapt to whatever situation he has found himself in through his young career. "I think a lot of it was just the way I came up, racing. I grew up racing go-karts, and I just have a different background than pretty much everybody in this sport," Zilisch explained. "Nobody really did what I did growing up, and I feel like that background is why I feel like I'm able to adapt better. And then from the time I was 14 until now, I feel like I've raced every kind of discipline possible. And I think that is why I've been able to adapt to things so quickly, because I'm used to it. I feel like I've had to win races in so many different kinds of cars, I've understood what it takes to figure something out quickly and be able to make any car go fast." That ability to adapt and overcome has suited Zilisch well, and he'll have to rely on that one last time this season as he attempts to put together his best performance of the season, when it matters most, in Saturday night's NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway. Zilisch will square off against defending series champion, Justin Allgaier, his best friend Jesse Love, and fellow rookie contender Carson Kvapil for the championship., which should bode well for the driver of the No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet in qualifying on Saturday. However, Love was actually the fastest driver on the long run in practice, which would lead you to believe that perhaps the driver of the No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet could be the guy to beat in the race.The NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship Race is set for Saturday, November 1, and will be televised by The CW with the broadcast set to kick off at 7:30 PM ET. The Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will provide the live radio broadcast of the event.Toby Christie is the Editor-in-Chief of Racing America. He has 15 years of experience as a motorsports journalist and has been with Racing America since 2023.
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