“That’s the reason I’m here: to win road courses and get in the playoffs.” Shane van Gisbergen’s words after his win in Mexico City were a peek into the future. Ever since this statement, the Trackhouse Racing #88 driver has won 3/4 road course races he has started in across the Xfinity and Cup Series. But that one race? Well, he finished P2, but it took a herculean effort from Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s 18-year-old maestro to beat him.

SVG’s road course skill is so elite that even former Cup Series Champion Ryan Blaney feels intimidated by the Kiwi. “The only time I watch him is on TV, because I don’t see him during the race. He’s so far ahead of me. It’s not often that I get to be behind him,” Blaney once said. However, SVG doesn’t seem to intimidate young Connor Zilisch. Driving for JR Motorsports, the two went head-to-head in the Loop 110 at Chicago last Saturday, and SVG used some aggressive moves to get the win, but at Sonoma Raceway this week, Zilisch managed to break the air of invincibility around SVG’s road course dominance.

Conor Zilisch always believed he could beat Shane van Gisbergen

The Pit Boss 250 displayed a fiery showdown between Connor Zilisch and SVG. Zilisch took the lead from Lap 51, and that’s when the cat and mouse games ensued. SVG was tight on Zilisch’s bumper through every turn as the two built an insurmountable gap to the rest of the field. Despite restarts, Zilisch maintained his composure and fended off a hard-charging SVG to take the checkered flag in Sonoma, ending SVG’s winning streak.

Heading into this race, it seemed like Connor Zilisch was always one step behind the Kiwi. SVG got the pole last week at Chicago and won the race, while Zilisch started from 35th and finished 2nd. At Sonoma, SVG grabbed the pole yet again, but this time Zilisch was right beside him in P2, setting up a flag-to-flag battle for the win. They both flipped stages and saved fuel to stay amongst the top, and set up the epic battle when Connor prevailed.

In the post-race interview, Zilisch was asked, “With all the talk about how you know SVG is unbeatable on road courses, Mexico City. Chicago, and then qualifying yesterday and today. Beating him today? Does that give you extra satisfaction?” Zilisch’s answer oozed confidence of a young rookie willing to take on the world. Zilisch replied, “I knew I could do it all along. It was just a matter of doing it and executing and doing my job. And you know. I knew you had to be perfect to beat the guy. He’s really good.” If you don’t believe, then how can you win? That’s the simple motto that Connor Zilisch follows, and it worked wonders against Shane Van Gisbergen.

However, SVG was admittedly more friendly toward Zilisch, as he knew that he had put in a rather aggressive move to beat him in Chicago, and the Xfinity Series is where Zilisch earns his bread, unlike the Kiwi Cup star. But Zilisch clarified that he saw nothing wrong with Shane van Gisbergen’s moves last week, and was also not surprised by the lack thereof at Sonoma. He continued, “I said it last week, what he did wasn’t dirty. There’s two laps to go and he’s going to take a chance to win the race… Maybe some guys he might race differently, but I think if you show him respect, and I feel like I did for majority of the [Sonoma] race, then he’s gonna show you respect back… He kinda let me by there in Stage 2 to get behind me, and I kinda beat him in the second half of the track when I was behind him… It was very close.”

Zilich pivoted to how important and useful it is to have someone like Shane van Gisbergen in his corner. The two are not only teammates for JR Motorsports when SVG dips into Xfinity, but also are Red Bull teammates and Trackhouse Racing mates, as Zilisch is Justin Marks’ developmental driver. Zilisch continued, “It’s cool to have a friend like him that I can race against… We learn from each other… I look up to him as a driver and as a person. To get to race against him and learn from him at my age is so valuable to me. Whether I beat him or not doesn’t really affect much.” It’s clear that while Connor has all the confidence in the world to beat SVG, he also has an equal amount of respect for the veteran driver.

Connor Zilisch on road racing in NASCAR

Over the last few weeks, the NASCAR community has erupted in its discourse over the number of road course races on the schedule. Brad Keselowski said he feels there are too many. Dale Earnhardt Jr. agreed with him, and Denny Hamlin also felt six is too high a number, with the sport being limited to just two road courses, Sonoma and Watkins Glen, for 30 years. However, the road course aces don’t have much to complain about here, and one of them is Connor Zilisch.

When asked about his thoughts on the recent debate, Zilisch had a biased answer, but backed it up well. Connor said, “Biased. I want more, but you know. I think what the number we’re at is good. I honestly love the concept of street racing for NASCAR. You’re not going to make an oval track in the city, in a big city, and there’s no better way to gain fans in a big urban city,” Zilisch mentioned the importance of street courses to expand NASCAR to the untapped market of the USA. With a lot of fans assembling in Chicago, it is proof of the popularity of the road courses.

Alex Bowman was also asked the same question in a recent interview. “Selfishly, we typically run pretty well at the road courses, so I like them, but I think we’re certainly looking at pushing it on the too many side of things,” said the HMS #48. Well, the debate will stir as NASCAR loyalists favor the ovals while new generation fans and drivers incline toward gritty road courses. What do you think of the state of road racing in NASCAR? Let us know in the comments!