Connor Zilisch vs Shane van Gisbergen is turning into quite a rivalry. For the third time this season, both drivers battled it out on a road course in the Xfinity Series, having won a race each on previous occasions. But despite competing for the same team, the JR Motorsports drivers got involved in an incident with 18 laps to go in the Misson 300 at Watkins Glen, much to Dale Earnhardt Jr’s dismay.

But at just 19 years old, Zilisch still needs to develop his racecraft, even though he has already secured six wins this season. And Dale Jr. has come to the rookie’s defense, sharing a surprise take about the ‘generational talent’ that might reveal a side of him that we haven’t seen much of yet.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. reveals an eye-opening Zilisch theory

It was a battle between generations. Veteran racer Shane van Gisbergen, at 36, was hoping to continue his road course dominance at Watkins Glen and was leading at the opening of Stage 2. The Kiwi racer kept Zilisch at bay, even though the youngster desperately attempted to make the pass with just a handful of laps remaining. And with 18 to go, when entering turn six, Connor Zilisch pulled alongside the No. 9 of van Gisbergen, went wide off the racetrack, and hit his teammate’s rear right side. The contact was enough for SVG to go hard into the barriers, forcing him to retire prematurely.

And even though both the racers were competing for Dale Earnhardt Jr., the 50-year-old came to his young driver’s defense. Speaking on the Dale Jr. Download podcast, he said, “Look, Connor is incredibly fast, but he’s still working on his racecraft. When he started the season, he didn’t know how to put a complete race together on ovals. He figured that out. He adapted and evolved, and he has now become a guy that you don’t worry about him getting the car to the end for that. You know, he’s got to win. You start the race with a winning car, he’s going to be there in the end with a winning car. You don’t worry about that anymore.”

However, Junior also opened up about the possibility that Zilisch’s contact with Shane van Gisbergen may have been intentional. The Kiwi racer was blocking his teammate towards the closing laps of the race, and frustration may have gotten the better of the rookie driver, who resorted to an extreme measure. On that note, Dale Jr. said, “We don’t know how Connor keeps his score, right? In his head. This may just be who Connor Zilisch is, right? This might not be a young guy, inexperienced, making mistakes. This may be Connor saying, ‘You block, you pay.’ That also might be the case.”

After the race, Shane van Gisbergen admitted he was “Pretty gutted actually,” after losing out from a winning position, while Connor Zilisch asked his spotter, “If I wrecked him, tell me.” Restarting in fifth place, the No. 88 driver took the lead quickly and went on to win the race. However, his celebrations were short-lived after the youngster fell from his car in Victory Lane, breaking his collarbone. Perhaps karma has a way of getting even, at times when it’s most unexpected.

Former crew chief urges NASCAR to enforce track limits

NASCAR fans have a lot to say about road course races. For the majority, the Next-Gen car doesn’t perform well on such tracks, with passing opportunities getting harder and Shane van Gisbergen’s unparalleled dominance. Given the vehicle’s limitations, drivers have to resort to extreme measures to gain track positions, which may result in wrecks. And going by the race at Watkins Glen, that’s exactly what happened.

However, former crew chief and NBC Broadcaster Steve Letarte revealed that the late incident between JR Motorsports’ driver may have been because of NASCAR’s failure to enforce track limits. He said, “I think the Zilisch-SVG wreck, between the last two corners, happened because they left the track. The Austin Hill wreck with Michael McDowell happened off the race track. Now, both could have been avoided. We can talk about who’s at fault. That doesn’t matter to me. I just want the driver to feel like being on the race track is the preferred line. So we, as an industry, have to come up with a way that’s not more dangerous to the driver, not devastating to the race car; we’ve seen the turtles that destroy the race cars.”

The incident occurred because Connor Zilisch was too wide in Turn 6 and didn’t have enough room to return to the racetrack. He even said on the team radio, “I just don’t know where I could’ve gone. He didn’t leave me any room to rejoin.” Perhaps if NASCAR were stricter about track limits, drivers wouldn’t attempt to go so wide to begin with, and both JR Motorsports drivers would have finished the race on the podium. Ultimately, it was a bittersweet triumph for Dale Earnhardt Jr. for multiple reasons.