{"id":33482,"date":"2025-07-30T04:41:07","date_gmt":"2025-07-30T04:41:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/33482\/"},"modified":"2025-07-30T04:41:07","modified_gmt":"2025-07-30T04:41:07","slug":"dale-earnhardt-jr-on-connor-zilisch-nascar-stardom-ceiling-yall-aint-seen-nothing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/33482\/","title":{"rendered":"Dale Earnhardt Jr. on Connor Zilisch NASCAR, stardom ceiling: ‘Y’all ain’t seen nothing’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Connor Zilisch claimed his fifth Xfinity Series win<\/a> over the weekend. It was his third straight victory on the circuit, elevating him into rarefied air.<\/p>\n

But the fun might just be getting started. Dale Earnhardt Jr. has watched his young driver grow and he warned everyone about what might be coming.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, it\u2019s getting out there. He\u2019s in the conversation. But y\u2019all ain\u2019t seen nothing,\u201d Earnhardt said on the Dale Jr. Download.<\/a> \u201cLike if this kid keeps doing what he\u2019s doing and gets to the Cup level and starts replicating some of this success\u2026 they sky is the limit. Household name. Marketable. Oh my God.\u201d<\/p>\n

Connor Zilisch has already quickly become a favorite on the Xfinity Series circuit, with the JR Motorsports product producing on a weekly basis. He sits second in the standings in points, trailing Justin Allgaier\u2018s lead by only 21 points.<\/p>\n

His five wins are a high in the Xfinity Series so far this season. The momentum is building at an incredibly rapid pace.<\/p>\n

For the fans, Earnhardt suggested they\u2019re in for something special. And the ones that are watching now are going to remember it down the road. Because Connor Zilisch won\u2019t remain a secret for long.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would relate it to an analogy around music,\u201d Earnhardt said. \u201cSo music, you have probably, everybody\u2019s probably had the experience where they\u2019ve discovered a song, right, that\u2019s really good that no one really knows yet. And you\u2019re like, \u2018F*ck this is a good song.\u2019 And you don\u2019t know that it\u2019s going to blow up, but you\u2019re like, \u2018Man, I really like this f*cking song.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd you\u2019ll play it for a friend and they\u2019re like, \u2018Ah, ain\u2019t heard that.\u2019 And you\u2019re like, \u2018You ain\u2019t heard this? Goll, I feel like this should be playing everywhere and everyone should know it.\u2019 \u2018Nah, nah, don\u2019t know it. It\u2019s good. I like it. Thanks.\u2019 And then like two months later you\u2019re sick of it because it\u2019s all you hear on the radio because now it\u2019s the biggest damn song in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd you\u2019re like, \u2018I f*cking knew that, way back.\u2019 And you\u2019re not really sick of it, but you\u2019re like, \u2018Oh right, everybody loves the song now. It really blew up. I knew it would. I heard it before anyone else heard it around in my circle.\u2019 And that\u2019s kind of what this Connor Zilisch thing feels like.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a nice metaphor for the kind of popularity upswing that Connor Zilisch will see if he continues on his current trajectory. Few have done what he\u2019s doing at that age.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe idea is that we\u2019re all sitting here hearing the song for the first time,\u201d Earnhardt said. \u201cAnd we\u2019re all going, \u2018Damn this is a good song.\u2019 But really the rest of the world has yet to really get a listen. You know what I\u2019m saying?\u201d<\/p>\n

Is it too much to pin all those expectations on a 19-year-old driver? Perhaps.<\/p>\n

But if anyone can relate to dealing with that kind of authentic groundswell of support, it\u2019s Earnhardt. He carried one of the biggest names in the sport and had to adapt to the entire sport bearing down on him.<\/p>\n

So if he says Connor Zilisch can handle it, he\u2019s probably got a pretty good idea what he\u2019s talking about. Earnhardt finished:<\/p>\n

\u201cI guess maybe part of it is wishful thinking because we\u2019re all like clamoring for that next NASCAR superstar that could take us to Saturday Night Live or get into the places where we don\u2019t get, right?\u201d Earnhardt said. \u201cAnd become that national superstar in all forms, right? Entertainment, music, start seeing him in music videos and all kinds of shit, right? We\u2019re all clamoring for that next person that drags us into the stratosphere with them. Takes the whole sport into the mainstream again. That brings the sport back to the level of attendance that we\u2019re expecting and hoping for.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd, yes, a single driver can have that type of connection. And I hate to put the pressure on the kid, but I feel like he\u2019s got a shot at it. And I feel like right now we\u2019re all listening to his song going, \u2018Damn it\u2019s a good song, but the rest of the world ain\u2019t heard it yet.’\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Connor Zilisch claimed his fifth Xfinity Series win over the weekend. It was his third straight victory on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":33483,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[49,48,634,82],"class_list":["post-33482","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nascar","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nascar","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33482","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33482"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33482\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}