‘Future Hall Of Famer’ Prediction From Dale Earnhardt Jr. Grabs Attention originally appeared on The Spun.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. isn’t the only one impressed by Connor Zilisch.
Zilisch produced JR Motorsports’ 100th victory when winning Saturday’s Pennzoil 250 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The 19-year-old leads the Xfinity Series standings following his third straight triumph and fifth this season.
After the win, Earnhardt Jr. set a lofty bar for his young driver.
“He has the potential to do incredible, incredible Hall of Fame worthy things,” Earnhardt said.
The Athletic’s Jordan Bianchi referenced Earnhardt’s comments when calling Zilisch “legit” and “the real deal” on The Teardown podcast.
“He is the young guy who is coming in and showing it, and it’s the maturity and the poise …. He’s really smart,” Bianchi said. “He’s really patient. He’s about putting himself in a position to be there at the end and then makes the moves and capitalizes. That, to me, is a guy whose race craft supersedes his age. He’s not racing like a 19-year-old.”
Bianchi’s co-host, Jeff Gluck, is also dazzled by Zilisch’s poise so early in his career.
“He’s just so mature,” Gluck said. “It’s crazy. When you listen to him talk and his mental approach … he must have had great parenting growing up.”
Gluck theorized that Zilisch may be NASCAR’s best prospect since the likes of Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, and Kyle Busch. Bianchi added Chase Elliott and William Byron to the conversation.
Bianchi said it’d be “silly” not to move Zilisch to the Cup Series next year. He predicted the rising young star would endure some growing pains against NASCAR’s top stars in 2026, but Zilisch remains “the next in line.”
“I don’t know if next year he’ll be super competitive on ovals,” Bianchi said. “I think he’ll be OK and have some top 10s, but I think he’s good enough to win on a road course. It’s going to be a little bit of an adjustment period for him, but he’s legit. He’s not going anywhere.”
Bianchi asked Zillisch about Earnhardt’s comments in his post-race press conference. He called the Hall of Famer’s praise “really special.”
“Those words carry a lot of meaning, and I still have a long way to go before I get to that point,” Zillisch said. “And a lot of work ahead of me and a lot of bad days ahead of me. It’s gonna b an incredible journey.”
Related: Denny Hamlin Reacts To NASCAR’s 2026 San Diego Announcement
‘Future Hall Of Famer’ Prediction From Dale Earnhardt Jr. Grabs Attention first appeared on The Spun on Jul 29, 2025
This story was originally reported by The Spun on Jul 29, 2025, where it first appeared.
