Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s NASCAR prodigy eyeing “back to back”wins at Phoenix

Connor Zilisch, the young Dale Earnhardt Jr. prodigy with his team JR Motorsports, recently spoke with optimism over his return to Phoenix Raceway after his victory in the 2024 ARCA Menards Series West. He is also competing at the back of a win at Circuit of The Americas in the Xfinity Series.

Zilisch, the Xfinity Series driver for JR Motorsports’ #88, made a remarkable impression on NASCAR fans when he won the Xfinity Series race at the 2025 Circuit of The Americas on March 1. The 18-year-old started at pole and led a race-high of 26 laps, despite a commitment line violation that sent him to the back of the field. He overtook Carson Kvapil on Lap 56 and maintained it despite damage to his right front fender after coming in contact with Corey Heim. He finished the race with a margin of 1.639 seconds over William Byron. After such a promising start to his 2025 Campaign, the 18-year-old wants to stamp his authority moving forward.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. JR Motorsports’ prodigy spoke on his return to this racetrack where he has already registered a victory in the lower series. He was looking into improving upon his team’s top-5 finish in the fall of last year.

"We're here at Phoenix, 3rd and 4th race of the year, already losing count, what's up? Yeah, excited to be here, such a cool racetrack, coming back here after we finish top 5 in the fall, so hopefully we can pick up a few spots from that one and win back-to-back races here at Phoenix," said Zilisch in a video uploaded by JR Motorsports on X.

Zilisch highlighted the momentum that his car and its crew need to gather after their win at COTA.

"We won at COTA last week, so got a lot of momentum for our 88 team, and excited to have Roto-Rooter Pummin' on board this week. Car looks sweet, so hopefully we can put it in victory lane," he added.

Zilisch dominated the race at ARCA Menards (his first start). He led the race at Phoenix from the early stages, extending it to more than eight seconds but a caution brought William Sawalich into contention. The JR Motorsports driver held off Sawalich at the final restart of the race and marked yet another win across all the ARCA platforms in the 2024 season, contributing to him being promoted up to the Xfinity Series for the 2025 season.

Connor Zilisch underlines Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s involvement as a mentor

In a recent interview on Corey LaJoie's podcast, Zilisch shared insights about Earnhardt Jr.'s supportive nature, highlighting how the veteran driver enjoys providing guidance and advice to help him navigate the competitive landscape of the Xfinity Series.

"He loves giving advice on speedway racing especially; he sat us all down at Daytona, the day of the race, and was like 'hey guys, this is what you gotta do, I know your teammates but... He did give some examples of him back in the day. He loves to help and give advice and that's one of the coolest parts about him," Zilisch spoke on the podcast

Zilisch, also a development driver for Trackhouse Racing in the Cup Series, is currently making waves in the sport, sitting 16th in the Xfinity championship standings.