"Maybe I need to tuck my pants": Kyle Larson takes aerodynamic notes from Connor Zilisch's "unreal" Watkins Glen win

2021 Cup Series champion Kyle Larson observed how Connor Zilisch donned his race suit at Watkins Glen. The Hendrick Motorsports driver praised the 18-year-old for his "unreal talent" on the road course as Zilisch dominated the 90-lap event.

The JR Motorsports driver entered the 2024 season as a Truck Series racer for Spire Motorsports and locked a four-race schedule for the Xfinity Series with Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s team. The Mission 200 at the Glen marked his debut Xfinity run.

Zilisch bagged the fastest qualifying time at 71.028 seconds and dethroned Ty Gibbs from the pole by 0.143 seconds. The former produced strong racing since the battle went green, triumphing in the first stage. In Stage 2, however, William Byron took over and won, while the JRM driver fell to a third-place finish.

On Lap 45 restart, Byron got loose while exiting Turn 1 and opened the field for Connor Zilisch's #88 Chevy to take over. The next lap, however, saw the latter being sent to the rear after missing the inner loop under caution. Nevertheless, Zilisch survived the odds, led 45 laps, and braved the two overtime restarts to park his Chevy in the victory lane.

Kyle Larson hailed the race winner's talent and took aerodynamic notes from the 18-year-old.

"Congrats @ConnorZilisch! Pretty unreal talent. Maybe I need to tuck my pants into my racing shoes too? 🤔," Larson Tweeted.

Tucking pants into the shoes helps the air flow smoothly through the suit as there are no gaps where the air can stall and reduce the car's pace, giving an aerodynamic advantage to the driver.

"I didn’t think I was going to make it back to the line": Connor Zilisch after low fuel jeopardized his debut win at Watkins Glen

Connor Zilisch took the inside line during the first overtime restart with Sam Mayer second on the outside. The moment the restart went green, Mayer took the lead. However, as the pack entered Turn 1, the inside line helped Zilisch get a better race line. As Mayer went slightly wide, the former grabbed the lead and gunned toward the checkered flag.

A second overtime caution was issued with just two to go with the JRM driver on the inside and Mayer, once again, second on the outside. This time, however, Zilisch's #88 Chevy sputtered as he drove up the hill, but managed to take the white flag as the leader, and inched closer to his career-first Xfinity win.

But a multi-car pileup transpired on the final lap, prompting another yellow, and, as a result, the cars were slowed down. Connor Zilisch had sufficient fuel to make it to the end and wrapped his debut Xfinity weekend on a dominant note.

"I worked so hard for this one. I’ve been working on this one for months. It’s so special to me man, I don’t have words right now. I don’t know how I saved enough. I sputtered up the hill with two to go, I didn’t think I was going to make it back to the line. I was saving the last two laps, I’m going to enjoy this one for a while," Zilisch said via NASCAR on NBC on X.

Connor Zilisch became the first Xfinity driver to etch the pole and victory in their debut attempt, and the seventh driver to win the Xfinity race in the maiden shot.