Dale Earnhardt Jr. “very proud” of Connor Zilisch as JRM’s rookie delivers the hype with another Xfinity win

JR Motorsports co-owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. promptly shared his reaction to the rookie NASCAR Xfinity driver Connor Zilisch on his maiden win at the 2025 Focused Health 250 race at Circuit of the Americas. The 18-year-old Zilisch wheeled in his No. 88 Chevrolet to the victory lane for the second time at a road course event in his NASCAR career.

After starting on pole, Zilisch had to overcome several adversaries and confirm his spot for the playoffs in his first full-time season. From serving a penalty to battling his JRM teammate Carson Kvapil in the final stage, the North Carolina native showed his road course dominance until the start-finish line, leading to an elated response from his team owner Dale Jr.

"Very proud of @ConnorZilisch and @Mardylindley and the @JRMotorsports team. That battle with Carson made me nauseous. Gonna be a fun but very stressful year! 😀😀😀💪🏼💪🏼💪🏼💪🏼," Dale Earnhardt Jr. wrote on X.

So far, Connor Zilisch has found success two times in the Xfinity Series. His first win was on his debut with Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s JRM last year at Watkins Glen in NASCAR's second-tier division.

Moreover, after two underwhelming races at Daytona and Talladega last month, this win certainly boosted the NASCAR prodigy's confidence as he prepares for his Cup Series debut this Sunday (March 2) for Trackhouse Racing.

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Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s NASCAR prodigy "more comfortable" for Cup debut than previous Xfinity and Truck starts

Connor Zilisch will start his third road course race at Circuit of the Americas on March 2 for his NASCAR Cup Series debut, driving the No. 87 Chevy for Trackhouse Racing.

In his NASCAR debut run in the Truck Series at COTA, Zilisch finished in the top five. Meanwhile, the young driver won his debut start in the Xfinity for Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s JR Motorsports, another road course event. As he prepares himself for his first race in the Next-gen, Zilisch boasted unwavering confidence driving his Red Bull-sponsored machine among the ace Cup Series drivers.

In a media availability, Zilisch said (via Racing America):

"Honestly, I feel more comfortable going into this weekend than I did when I was going into my Xfinity debut and Truck debut where it was kind of a completely different race car. I'm excited to see what it feels like. Obviously, I've done a lot of sim[ulator] work, but you never really know what you're going to have until you show up to the race track and go out for practice. But thankfully we have extended practice this weekend."

As the NASCAR Cup Series prepares for the season's third race, Connor Zilisch qualified P14 on the grid after the recently concluded qualifying event for the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix.