rewrite this title Connor Zilisch thought mistake ended his day at Watkins Glen before winning charge

Lap 77 of Saturday’s Mission 200 at The Glen was one of the worst laps Connor Zilisch has run in his young NASCAR career. 

Zilisch, who was chasing down leader Jesse Love, got loose in the bus stop at Watkins Glen International and skipped his No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet through the grass, damaging the car and losing a chunk of time to Love, who was nursing his car home on fumes. 

Zilisch’s deficit to Love grew from just under 1.5 seconds to over 2.5 as he tried to get back into a rhythm. 

Once Zilisch found his groove again, there was no stopping him from getting to Love’s back bumper. And once he got to Love’s back bumper, a crucial overdrive of turn 7 from Love on the final lap allowed Zilisch to pass him for the win. 

“It took a little bit for the splitter to clear itself from hitting the track,” Zilisch said in his post-race news conference. “I knocked the splitter back probably 4-5 inches. It was a pretty big hit in the mud there. Once it got itself cleared I was able to start making corners with the tires on the ground again. It worried me there for a lap. I thought my race was over.”

Battle for WGI win came down to best friends

The race for the win came down to Love and Zilisch, a pair of incredibly bright NASCAR prospects who are best friends off the racetrack. Had Love not overshot the final corner, would Zilisch have made an aggressive, potentially contact-inducing move?

Maybe, but probably not.

“I wasn’t going to do anything egregious to move him out of the way,” Zilisch said. “I just wanted to show a nose and try and force him into making a mistake. I didn’t want to win that way. I think anybody could’ve done that. I’ll do anything to win, but I’m not going to just ship a guy in the corner to do it.

“I showed a nose and it was enough for him to lock [up] his right front and wash up. [It] got us the win.”

Zilisch will start fifth in Sunday’s Go Bowling at The Glen as he looks for his first career NASCAR Cup Series victory in his rookie campaign. 

Quotes provided by NASCAR Media.