Connor Zilisch’s penalty became his “race-winning move,” as per NASCAR insider

NASCAR insider Joseph Srigley has said the Lap 46 penalty for Connor Zilisch proved "race-winning" for the Xfinity Series driver. The JR Motorsports driver sealed his first Xfinity win on his debut attempt at Watkins Glen.

Zilisch was fastest in qualifying and led a race-high 45 laps before clinching the Mission 200 at the Glen victory. With that, the 18-year-old became the seventh Xfinity driver to snap a debut win.

However, his chances of triumphing looked to have been dented when Zilisch was slapped with a penalty for taking an unauthorized route. Zilisch, Ty Gibbs, and Sam Mayer failed to steer via the inner loop or the 'Bus Stop,' when the race was yellow-flagged and took the straight road instead.

As a result, all three were penalized and pitted since they restarted from the rear of the field. The Lap 47 pitstop also marked the JRM driver's last visit to the pitlane. Following the race, Srigley took to X (formerly Twitter) and outlined the "strange way" in which Zilisch's #88 Chevy was propelled to victory.

Srigley wrote,

"In a very strange way, this mistake of driving through the interloop without stopping kind of ended up being the race-winning move for Connor Zilisch. If he doesn't get this penalty, he doesn't come to the pits (for what ended up being his last stop) on Lap 47."

Zilisch dominated the first stage, finishing P1, but got outperformed by William Byron in Stage 2 and finished third. Nonetheless, Zilisch survived the chaotic overtime restarts in the final stage and fended off Joe Gibbs Racing's Sheldon Creed, before taking his #88 Chevy to Victory Lane.

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Dale Earnhardt Jr. congratulates Connor Zilisch on the phone during post-race presser

Connor Zilisch entered the NASCAR scene this year and his capabilities to dominate the track soon became evident. Aged 17, he debuted in the Craftsman Truck Series for Spire Motorsports and bagged the pole position. After battling back and forth with his rivals, the North Carolina native took a fourth-place finish, with the winner being Corey Heim.

As he turned 18 this year, Zilisch can't race full-time in NASCAR before 2025. However, his Truck Series performance, five ARCA wins, and the 24 Hours of Daytona victory, among others, secured him a part-time seat with Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s JRM for this season.

In his very first race in the Xfinity Series, Zilisch emerged victorious.

In the post-race press conference, Zilisch got a phone call from the team owner. The former paused the interview and attended the call from Junior.

Journalist Matt Weaver shared a video on X that included Dale Jr.'s saying,

"Enjoy this, you never win your “first” again,”

Connor Zilisch is the first driver in the history of the Xfinity Series to have clinched the pole and a race win on debut.