Kevin Harvick sets the record straight after Connor Zilisch credits him and his son Keelan for their role in his NASCAR journey

Connor Zilisch recently appeared in an episode of Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour podcast and gave a shout-out to the NASCAR Cup Series champion. The Xfinity Series driver feels that he wouldn’t be where he is now if it weren’t for Harvick.

Harvick signed Zilisch for a late model program under the banner of Rackley W.A.R. back in 2023. By then, Zilisch had bagged the prestigious Rookie of the Year award in the Mazda MX-5 Cup. It was also around the time when Zilisch drove for former NASCAR team owner and current head of Chevrolet's driver development program, Lorin Ranier.

Zilisch is aware that there are several young drivers out there who are as talented as him but haven’t landed the opportunity to excel. On that note, he told Harvick,

“There's so many kids that I raced against that were so talented that just never got the opportunity to move on because they didn't meet the right person. If I never had the opportunity to meet you and be teammates with Keelan, I wouldn't be sitting here right now.”

Besides his full-time deal with JR Motorsports in the Xfinity Series, Zilisch is currently signed as a development driver for Trackhouse Racing. This deal lets him compete in multiple series including the NASCAR Cup Series, the CARS Tour, the Trans-Am Series, the IMSA SportsCar Championship, and the Global MX-5 Cup.

“It's crazy to think about that there's probably so many other kids out there that are (at) the same level of talent as me but just ever got their shots,” he added.

Harvick shared the clip from Zilisch's interview on X (formerly Twitter) with the following caption:

"Glad we found him, his future is bright!"

Zilisch will.next compete in first race at Phoenix Raceway with JR Motorsports. Named GOVX 200, the 200-lap race will stream live on CW (March 8, 5 pm ET) with radio coverage on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

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Dale Earnhardt Jr. offers valuable advice to Connor Zilisch following dominant COTA outing

Connor Zilisch logged his first win of the season at COTA last Saturday. Notably, it was his second victory in seven career starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Needless to say, a win this early in the season has its perks: it gave Zilisch a head-start and locked him in the playoffs.

Zilisch sure knows how to drive a race car, but according to Dale Earnhardt Jr., he needs to be a better teammate. Reflecting on Zilisch’s late-race contact with teammate Carson Kvapil, the NASCAR Hall of Famer said,

“He’s gonna have teammates all his life. You learn over the course of your career to be a good teammate and help your teammates when you can because that’s gonna come around to help you. Their crew chiefs see it, their crew chiefs then want to help you.”

“That’s something that Connor has to improve on. And we’ve dealt with that in the past and I’m sure the shoe will be on the other foot. There will be a race somewhere else where it’ll be another teammate,” Dale Jr. added.

Notably, Connor Zilisch realized his mistakes. As reported by Yardbarker, the young driver apologized to everyone he hit that day, saying that he was “mentally fogged” halfway through the race.