DAYTONA BEACH — For almost 24 hours at season’s finish, two-plus weeks in the past, was the image of
He sat on the bottom, alongside his race automobile, on the shut of a season he totally dominated, solely to lose the Xfinity Collection championship in a winner-take-all finale at Phoenix.
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After a 10-win rookie season — he received seven of eight at one level — he may solely handle a 3rd at Phoenix, the place the championship went to race winner Jesse Love, whose solely earlier 2025 win got here within the
Connor Zilisch’s stellar 2025 season resulted in disappointment when he completed third on the season finale in Phoenix.
Zilisch appeared devastated, however a day later, Denny Hamlin had the Cup race and his long-awaited championship snatched away as he was coasting to victory. His response appeared someplace past devastation, one thing nearer to resignation, that it’s simply by no means going to go his method.
From the vantage level of far eliminated, Zilisch, simply 19, once more proved he’s dialed into a sort of perspective others take longer to understand.
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“I don’t suppose I’m in the identical footwear, fairly, as Denny. Denny has been making an attempt at it for 20 years,” mentioned Zilisch, who was at Daytona this previous weekend for 2 days of testing a brand new Cadillac prototype forward of January’s Rolex 24 — he was not too long ago added to the driving force roster of the Whelen Cadillac GTP workforce.
Connor Zilisch says Denny Hamlin “may really feel” NASCAR championship earlier than it disappeared
Hamlin was lower than a minute away from cruising underneath the checkers as champ, however a late crash and warning introduced pit stops, a restart and, in the end, a sixth-place end and one other championship that acquired away.
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“He may really feel what being a champion was like,” Zilisch mentioned of Hamlin’s closing laps earlier than the warning. “And I by no means actually acquired that within the Xfinity race. I by no means thought I had one of the best automobile, by no means thought I had an opportunity to win it. I simply felt like I used to be a third-place automobile all evening, and that was it.
“However he acquired actually shut and acquired it taken away in an extra time restart. I can’t think about what he went via. However I’ve acquired much more years forward of me than behind me, and I feel he’s the other.”
Denny Hamlin’s twentieth Cup Collection season introduced him oh-so-close to that long-awaited championship.
Zilisch mentioned he sometimes listens to Hamlin’s weekly “Actions Detrimental” podcast and enjoys it when he does.
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“I study so much from him,” Zilisch mentioned. “He’s gotten a number of hate through the years as a driver and the kind of individual he’s, however I feel deep down he desires one of the best for the game.
“I really feel dangerous. I actually needed to see him win that championship and I feel lots of people did. I can’t think about what it was like for him, and I don’t suppose I can evaluate my feelings to what he felt.”
After Rolex 24, one other rookie season awaits Connor Zilisch in NASCAR
Zilisch will get a better have a look at Hamlin’s efforts subsequent season. The younger racer shall be a part of Trackhouse Racing’s three-driver lineup within the Cup Collection for 2026, becoming a member of Ross Chastain and Shane van Gisbergen. Two weeks after the Feb. 1 preseason Conflict in Winston-Salem, the common season begins, as all the time, with the Daytona 500, scheduled for Feb. 15.
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However earlier than that, Zilisch will swimsuit up for one more Rolex 24, his third straight. He was a part of a Rolex class win in 2024 as co-driver of an LMP2 effort fielded by Period Motorsport. This previous 12 months, he co-drove a GTD Trackhouse Corvette with an all-star lineup of fellow racers — van Gisbergen, Scott McLaughlin and Ben Keating. They completed ninth in GTD Professional.
Now he strikes into the marquee GTP (Grand Touring Protype) class with the Whelen workforce that additionally contains drivers Jack Aitken, Earl Bamber and Frederik Vesti.
The 2026 Rolex is scheduled for Saturday-Sunday, Jan. 24-25. It’ll be preceded the earlier weekend by three days of testing referred to as the Roar Earlier than the Rolex 24.
