“Grew Up Racing Against Him”: Amid Kevin Harvick’s Son’s Steady Rise, Connor Zilisch Unmasks the Closer’s Decision

Connor Zilisch’s racing background stems from go-karting, having won the prestigious CIK-FIA Karting Academy Trophy in 2020. This is the breeding ground for future Formula 1 stars, but Zilisch chose to return home and continue carting. Fortunately, his talent was scouted by Kevin Harvick, who helped him move on to stock car racing.

Additionally, Harvick’s son, Keelan, was teamed up with Zilisch on his go-kart team. This would rather come as a surprise, as most of the young drivers looking to enter stock car racing opted for midget racing on the dirt tracks. But there’s a big advantage between karting and quarter-midget racing, and this was explained by the 2024 24 Hours of Daytona winner.

Being uncomfortable racing a go-kart has its advantages

Kevin Harvick was quick to notice the trend of the upcoming kids learning their tricks of the trade at the go-kart level. His mentee, Connor Zilisch, started this, and his early showings in the stock car have been nothing short of a miracle. 2022 MX-5 Cup Rookie of the Year and three ARCA Series wins this year are some of his early achievements.

So there has to be something about competing at the go-kart level that has helped Zilisch transition quickly to a stock car, right? And the simple answer to that is learning to be uncomfortable at the nascent stage of their racing career, which Zilisch has experienced so far. “The reason that he (Harvick) put his son in a go-kart is, you know, kids like me, Brent Cruz, who’s coming up in ARCA. So he’s about two years younger than me but I grew up racing against him. I feel like it’s just amount of different situations, different tracks that you go to, right?”

“By the time I was 13 or 14, I was telling my mechanic, Hey, this is what we need to change. I feel like I was able to learn so much in so many different scenarios, and I really just got an understanding of how to be comfortable in uncomfortable situations, and that’s one thing I learned from him. It’s okay to be uncomfortable, especially at my age.” Zilisch said while speaking on the Stacking Pennies podcast.

From go-karting to ARCA and now NASCAR racing, Zilisch certainly has carved his own path. But he’s looking to hone his racecraft and is eyeing a full-time opportunity next year.

Zilisch is eager to find a full-time NASCAR ride

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His first official National Series event was a road course race at COTA. Connor Zilisch was 17 four months ago and, therefore, could not secure a full-time ride in Trucks or the Xfinity Series. Despite a rough start on the very first lap in the No. 7 Spire Truck, he bounced back in some style and ended the day on a P4 finish. And he is scheduled to run four more races this season.

At this rate, he is bound to compete on Sundays in the NASCAR Cup Series. But Zilisch wants to take one step at a time and compete full-time in the Xfinity Series first. “First of all, I want to run Xfinity full-time next year. That’s a goal of mine and something I’m working towards. I wanna be able to go out there and learn. The only way to get better is reps and seat time, so running next year full-time will allow me to do that,” the 18-year-old racer added.

Now it has to be noted, that JR Motorsports has scheduled his Xfinity debut in September at Watkins Glen. And with Sam Mayer linked with a move to the Cup Series, that could open space for him at JRM. Kaulig Racing is another option, as they have close ties with Trackhouse Racing, and currently, Zilisch is signed with Justin Marks and his team.