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Connor Zilisch Snubs Championship-Less Dale Earnhardt Jr to Choose His HMS Teammate’s Ethics Ahead
Connor Zilisch isn’t the first or last young prospect touted to be the next big star in NASCAR. Although a huge list of accomplishments in his kitty, he is hungry for more. Zilisch’s rise onto the NASCAR stage has been nothing short of a dream run, and this can be taxing on the young driver with all the hype and attention.
It’s not that Zilisch is young and naïve about how his career has catapulted from being a go-kart driver to a stock car racing sensation. His talent and ability play a role in his plans to reach the highest level of stock car racing. There’s no substitute for hard work, according to him. Like every budding driver, the 18-year-old looks up to Jimmie Johnson as his role model and wants to continue in his footsteps to reach new heights.
Zilisch is having a dream run after his breakthrough on the NASCAR scene; this is indeed a dream run most young drivers dream of. The North Carolina native has a good base and a road map to make it to the Cup Series. He is signed to Trackers Racing and has secured his maiden full-time opportunity in the Xfinity Series with JR Motorsports. So practically, he is in a comfortable spot given that his path to Cup level is more or less secured.
But the young driver certainly knows what it takes to excel at the highest level. This was evident from his answer to Dale Jr’s question regarding his emotions after achieving success at the nascent stage of his career. “There’s one thing that I kinda point out to motivate me. Jimmie Johnson, you know he wins two, three, four championships and doesn’t stop being the hardest worker out there, and that’s one thing I look at,” Zilisch said via the Dale Jr Download podcast.
“Jimmie he continued to work and be the hardest worker, and the success continued, and for me, that’s one thing. It’s tough, right? I’m 18 and I have all this opportunity, and so much stuff is happening around me and so many things for me that I’m doing for the first time, and it’s not always easy, right? It’s gonna be hard,” Zilisch went on to add.
Having won the 24 Hours of Daytona, 12 Hours of Sebring, and multiple ARCA races, he has set his eyes firm on the bigger picture. It is him reaching the NASCAR Cup Series and continuing his rise, going toe-to-toe against the best in the business.
The build-up to the Azerbaijan Grand Prix has been dominated by news off the track this week. Adrian Newey’s confirmed move to Aston Martin has sent shockwaves through F1, with speculation now rife that Max Verstappen could be following him through the door.
However, the Dutchman’s primary focus this week though will be maintaining his grip on the drivers’ championship. He is 62 points clear of Lando Norris, but with eight races to go the gap is closing with McLaren currently superior in pace.
The British team are also now just eight points behind Red Bull in the Constructors’ race. And the first indication of who will be superior this weekend will come at 10.30am BST, when FP1 gets underway in Baku.
Lewis Hamilton will be forced to start the Azerbaijan Grand Prix from the pit lane despite qualifying in seventh place.
After the session, a fifth power unit of the season was installed into Hamilton’s car, exceeding his allocated limit.
An extended DRS zone on the home straight will provide plenty of overtaking opportunities during the race
George Russell has admitted that he is not impressed with Mercedes reverting back to their old floor design in Baku.
“I qualified third last week on the new floor, qualified fourth in Zandvoort on the new floor, and I’ve qualified fifth today,” he said.
“It was a team decision and we were substantially off the pace in the race, but clearly, there was some performance in the car in qualifying the last two races.
“I think [it’s] probably validation that it’s not the floor that’s making the difference.”
Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko believes a rare mistake from Max Verstappen cost him in qualifying.
The Dutchman will start from sixth on the grid and will line up behind team-mate Sergio Perez for the first time in 33 races.
“The positive is that we found speed again, although Max made a rare mistake at Turn 16,” reflected Marko.
“He lost six-tenths as a result, but without that mistake, a second place would have been really possible.”
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NASCAR is heading to its second race in the 2024 Cup Series playoffs. The next challenge for the 16 drivers is Watkins Glen International. In its first time hosting the playoffs, ‘The Glen’ will be more challenging this year. As NASCAR is introducing a new tire compound in the race. These new tires have a 3-second wear-off rate and are bound to make tire management a challenge for the drivers.
However, the tire wear will also make passing the cars easier on track. Hence, the race results won’t be heavily dependent on the qualifying position. This has Chase Elliott take a sigh of relief as he’s trying to forget his 2023 run on the track. According to the Hendrick Motorsports driver, the new tire compound will play a crucial role in the upcoming Watkins Glen race.
At the 2023 Watkins race, Elliot qualified 15th and only managed to climb up to 13th before his first pit stop. The early pit stop initially played a decent role in upping his track position as he progressed to 7th. However, the team tried to stretch their run by staying out. Eventually, Elliott was out of fuel and he finished in the 32nd position. And because it was tough to pass, he ended his run a lap down. This was Elliott’s worst career finish on the track. This is surprising because Elliott has been a dominant force in Watkins Glen. In the past five races, he’s won twice (2018,2019) and finished in the top 5 in the other two (2021, 2022).
Elliott, in the current qualifying, will be starting from 14th position, but that according to him won’t be a problem thanks to the new Goodyear tires. In the pre-race interview, he said, “I mean it was like you know if you didn’t qualify well you were just totally setting yourself up to fail and I think that has really been the case all the way up until all the way through last year. You know truthfully, and I think the only thing that could potentially change that would just be whether or not the tire falls off. You know if a tire actually has some fall of to it, then you know potentially you could. You can not have to qualify on the front row to have a shot to win.”
Well, Elliott’s hopes of passing everyone to victory are based on ifs and buts. However, Goodyear is certain of its claims. Greg Stucker, Goodyear’s director of racing, had previously said, “Based on our test and a subsequent WFT (wheelforce test) with the manufacturers, we should see around three seconds of fall-off per lap over a run. That, of course, can mean more passing throughout the race. It’s always tricky on road courses as drivers take advantage of a limited number of ‘passing zones’, so the increased fall-off should lead to more comers and goers as some drivers manage their tires and gain on the field as the runs go on.”
To test the new tire compound, teams were given two practice sessions this time, rather than a single one. After the two 20-minute sessions, the tire wear-off data came in. Most cars experienced at least two seconds of fall-off during a 10-lap run. This means that the race is going to get interesting. A high wear rate also means the car would be tricky to handle. Adding to the uncertainties, NASCAR has also made several changes to the track. Recently, NASCAR drivers voiced their concerns about the changes made.
After retiring from the Cup Series in 2017, Dale Earnhardt Jr has engaged in several ventures. One of them includes participating in the Xfinity Series in a limited capacity every year. For this year, Junior decided to compete at Bristol Motor Speedway in September. However, with strong rumors circulating that this might be his last Xfinity race participation, it has disappointed the fans.
It is no secret how the fans still adore Dale Earnhardt Jr. Despite his presence mainly seen in the broadcast booths and his podcast, the former Hendrick Motorsports driver remains a popular face in NASCAR. Last year, he raced at Bristol and was on course for an impressive finish. However, a fire on his #88 car spoiled everything.
Ever since his retirement, Dale Earnhardt Jr preferred to compete in select races in the Xfinity Series. Normally, he tends to race at short tracks like Martinsville Speedway, Richmond Raceway, Darlington Raceway, and Homestead-Miami Speedway. While he ran two races last year, this year it will be only at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Last year, while driving his #88 Chevrolet Camaro, Dale Jr looked in a good position to win the race. Having led 47 laps, he could have gone all the way had smoke not filled his cockpit. Unfortunately, despite being close to an impressive finish, he finished P30 because the shifter tunnel column caught fire and burned the bottom of his uniform.
That said, he will be back at Bristol this year to make amends. Having competed in at least one race in the Xfinity Series since 2001, Dale Earnhardt Jr will race the same car as last year. While he confirmed it through a social media post, he clarified that the car is totally stripped and rebuilt. It is worth noting that the car will be sponsored by longtime partner Hellmann’s.
There is no doubt that Dale Jr loves racing but considering his comments in June earlier this year, it feels this might be his last race in the Xfinity Series. Back then, he said, “I don’t really share this publicly — but every year, I pretty much feel like it could be my last. I’m going into this race at Bristol this year knowing that it might be the last one I run. There’s nothing that really makes that decision. It’s just last year was a lot of fun, led some laps. But it is a big commitment.”
Interestingly, Dale Earnhardt Jr competing at Bristol next weekend will be his 147th Xfinity Series start. While he has enjoyed a victory both in the Cup Series and the Xfinity Series at the half-mile track, he would love to secure his 25th Xfinity win next week. A win or not, Junior’s fans would be delighted to see him back on the track. However, they seem to be disheartened knowing that this could be the last they could see him on a NASCAR track.
