Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s NASCAR prodigy called “short king” by fellow driver

Connor Zilisch was called “short king” in a playful moment by his fellow NASCAR driver Jesse Love on X. Zilisch is currently making waves in the Xfinity Series with three successive wins in his last three races for Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s JR Motorsports.

The 19-year-old Zilisch is chasing his first NASCAR Xfinity Series title this year, having won five races so far. Zilisch, who is competing part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series for Trackhouse Racing, has rapidly gained popularity not only because of his prowess at racecraft but also due to his cordial attitude and good camaraderie with other drivers, such as Jesse Love.

Jesse Love, born in Menlo Park, California, runs full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, piloting the No. 2 Chevrolet SS for Richard Childress Racing and part-time in the Cup Series, driving the No. 33 Chevrolet ZL1 for RCR and driving the No. 62 for Beard Motorsports in 2025.

Jesse Love reshared a picture of himself and Zilisch posing together on X and wrote:

"Short king @ConnorZilisch"

Dale Earnhardt Jr. owns part of JR Motorsports, the NASCAR team that Connor Zilisch races in the No. 88 Xfinity series. In addition to being a partial owner, Earnhardt Jr. also returned to the crew chief position in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Pocono and guided Connor Zilisch to his second win of the 2025 season.

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Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s NASCAR prodigy looking to become just the third NASCAR Xfinity driver to achieve landmark feat at 19

Connor Zilisch, a 19-year-old rookie in the NASCAR Xfinity Series driving for JR Motorsports, has had a remarkable 2025 season so far. He has already secured five wins, including victories at notable tracks such as Circuit of the Americas and Indianapolis.

Recently, he achieved a streak of three consecutive wins, putting him among only 12 drivers in the series' history to win three or more straight races. If Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s NASCAR prodigy wins the upcoming HyVee Perks 250 at Iowa Speedway, Zilisch would become just the third driver ever to win four consecutive Xfinity Series races, joining Sam Ard (1983) and Noah Gragson (2022) in this rare feat.

Talking about the upcoming race in Iowa, Zilisch said (via NASCAR.com):

“I was fortunate enough to win the ARCA race at Iowa last year, so I’m looking forward to using what I learned in that race with a new challenge in the Xfinity car [...] My crew chief, Mardy Lindley, won the race there with Sam Mayer last year, so I know we’ll have a really good KOA Chevrolet when we get to the track this weekend.” “We’ve been on a roll lately with top-five finishes and trips to Victory Lane, so I’m ready to get to the track and continue that with (sponsor) KOA,” he added.

With five wins and ten top-five finishes this season, Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s NASCAR driver is only 21 points behind the leader, Justin Allgaier, in the Xfinity Series standings.

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Edited by Sumeet Kavthale