Dale Jr.’s NASCAR prodigy Connor Zilisch lets his feelings flow after “everything went downhill” at Martinsville

NASCAR Xfinity Series rookie Connor Zilisch shared his thoughts after finishing in 28th place despite leading most of the laps, 100, at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday night.

The 18-year-old driver of the No. 88 Chevy for JR Motorsports, co-owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr., won his second pole position of the season at Martinsville and also both stages on laps 60 and 120. He restarted in 14th place after a pit stop following a caution, and the race ended in a wild overtime finish.

In a recent post on his Instagram, Zilisch reflected on the race and wrote:

"Won stages 1 and 2 and led the most laps last night but everything went downhill in stage 3. Proud of the car we had but not satisfied with the result. Excited to go to Darlington for the first time next week!"

Richard Childress Racing's Austin Hill took the win after chaos broke out in the final turn. JRM's Sammy Smith hit Taylor Gray, who was leading, during the final lap and caused both to spin out. This allowed Hill to sneak through for his second win of the 2025 season.

Connor Zilisch proud of Dale Jr.'s team after COTA win

Connor Zilisch won the third race of the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity season at Circuit of the Americas (COTA). This was his second win in the series. He earned his first one at his debut Xfinity race at Watkins Glen in 2024.

Zilisch won the Focused Health 250 ahead of Hendrick Motorsports' William Byron by 1.639 seconds, leading a race-high of 26 laps out of 65. After the race, Connor Zilisch said via CW Network,

"That was way harder than I wanted it to be. I did not drive a clean race at all and sorry to everyone that I hit. I was kind of mentally fogged halfway through that race and glad we were able to fight back."

Zilisch got a penalty after he entered the pit road after a caution, which dropped him to 32nd on Lap 24. He later passed JR Motorsports teammate Carson Kvapil, on lap 55, for the lead. He praised JR Motorsports' staff for delivering a 'crazy' COTA win. He wrote in his Instagram post:

"Let’s goooooo!!!! So proud of my [JR Motorsports] team. What a crazy day. Thank you to [Weather Tech] for everything! Big day tomorrow starting 14th in the cup race with [Red Bull]nand [Trackhouse Racing], let’s do it again!"

Connor Zilisch also made his NASCAR Cup debut at the road course in Austin, Texas. He drove the Red Bull-sponsored No. 87 Chevrolet for Trackhouse Racing but was involved in a crash, which ended his day early. He joined the Trackhouse team earlier this year to compete in the endurance race, the Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway.