Connor Zilisch has already achieved a significant amount in his rookie NASCAR season. Yet, history is within reach as he heads to Iowa Speedway this weekend.
If the Trackhouse Racing/JR Motorsports driver wins on Saturday, he will become only the third driver in Xfinity Series history to win four consecutive races. If he wins at Iowa Speedway and Watkins Glen International, he will become the first driver in Xfinity Series history to win five consecutive races.
The only other drivers to win four consecutive races in the second-tier series were Sam Ard in 1983 and Noah Gragson in 2022.
Ard put on a dominant performance during the 1983 season. He first visited victory lane at Richmond Raceway in the second week of the season. He then scored wins at Martinsville Speedway, North Wilkesboro Speedway, Hickory Speedway, and Bristol Motor Speedway.
Ard kicked off his record-setting streak as the end of the season approached. He won at South Boston Speedway, Martinsville Speedway, Orange County Speedway, and Charlotte Motor Speedway while making NASCAR history. Jack Ingram snapped the streak at Hickory Speedway, but Ard closed out his championship-winning season the following race with a win at Martinsville Speedway.
Photo credit: Getty Images
Ard stood alone as the only driver in Xfinity Series history to win four consecutive races until the 2022 season. This is when Gragson put on a show of his own while driving for JR Motorsports.
Gragson won early races at Phoenix Raceway, Talladega Superspeedway, and Pocono Raceway. He then kicked off his four-race win stretch at Darlington Raceway. Gragson added trips to victory lane at Kansas Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway, and Texas Motor Speedway. This final win helped him join Ard in the NASCAR history books.
Gragson's final win during this season came at Homestead-Miami Speedway. He punched his ticket to the Championship 4, but he fell short of the title as Ty Gibbs beat him to the checkered flag in the finale.
Zilisch, who has five wins as a rookie, now has a chance to make history. He will pursue this goal at Iowa Speedway, a track where he has no previous Xfinity Series experience.
Not that taking on tracks for the first time has held Zilisch back in NASCAR. He has previously won his debuts at Watkins Glen International, Pocono Raceway, Dover Motor Speedway, Sonoma Raceway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and Circuit of the Americas.
"My crew chief, Mardy Lindley, won the race there with Sam Mayer last year so I'm expecting to have a really good KOA Chevrolet when we get to the track this weekend," Zilisch said. "I'm excited to go there for the first time in an Xfinity car. The fans at Iowa are really awesome.
"The racetrack is kind of out in the middle of nowhere but people show up and support us which is really cool. I won the ARCA race there last year so that's another track where I'm one-for one (smiles). I'm looking forward to figuring out that track in a new style of car."