Connor Zilisch's 2025 season has been legendary regardless of playoff fate

If you name a NASCAR Xfinity Series record, there's a solid chance that Xfinity Series rookie Connor Zilisch has broken it. 

Most wins by a rookie? Check. Most consecutive top-five finishes? Check. 

With four races left in the 2025 Xfinity Series campaign, a 19-year-old Zilisch, a 10-time winner this season, is still chasing Kyle Busch's record for the most wins in a single season (13). He's also chasing an Xfinity Series championship before he makes the jump to full-time Cup Series competition with Trackhouse Racing in 2026. 

Zilisch now faces a penultimate round of the Xfinity Series playoffs that features three wildly different tracks in Las Vegas, Talladega and Martinsville. He has a 57-point advantage over the cut line going into the opening race of the round at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, but nothing is guaranteed in NASCAR's current postseason format. 

With that in mind, Zilisch knows that whether or not he makes the Championship 4 and whether or not he wins the championship, he's still had a very successful season. 

"I've told my entire group, no matter what happens the next four races, it isn't going to define our season," Zilisch said in his post-race news conference following his victory at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval on Saturday. "Does that mean I'm not going to try to win the championship? No. It's such a tough spot. It's just the way it is. You have to accept that.

Regardless of how our season goes from here, I wouldn't say that this season hasn't been a success." 

Perhaps Zilisch's biggest disadvantage as he works his way through his first NASCAR playoff run is his lack of experience — not that it's mattered much so far. Still, there's something to be said for having been there and done that in tense situations. 

That's especially true in regard to the tracks Zilisch will have to earn a Championship 4 bid at. The March 15 race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway is Zilisch's only NXS start at LVMS so far, in which he started third and finished ninth. 

In his only Talladega start on April 27, Zilisch led nine laps and was leading with half a lap to go until he was turned on the backstretch, leading to a vicious hit and subsequent back injury. 

In his only start at Martinsville on March 29, Zilisch started from the pole and led 100 laps before being relegated to a 28th-place finish — one that certainly wasn't indicative of how fast he was. 

Zilisch has been far and away the best driver in the Xfinity Series field since returning from injury at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 24. In the 17 races since he came back from missing the May 3 race at Texas Motor Speedway, Zilisch has 17 consecutive top-five finishes, nine wins and has led 783 laps. 

No driver in any NASCAR series is as hot as Zilisch at the moment, and that's the reason why he will be the championship favorite until he is eliminated from the playoffs or loses the title at Phoenix on Nov. 1. 

Quotes provided by NASCAR Media unless otherwise noted.