Connor Zilisch’s dad offers argument against the idea of reducing road course events in NASCAR: “Races will be even better in future years”

Jim Zilisch has pushed back on the idea of reducing the number of road and street courses in NASCAR. While some believe the series has strayed too far with six such races in the Cup Series, the father of young prodigy Connor Zilisch believes that the quality of racing will rise in the future. Jim responded to NASCAR reporter Jeff Gluck's comments on The Teardown podcast, where he shared his opinion to reduce the number of road course races to three or four per year.

Gluck said that there was no point in having six such races given the dominance of Shane van Gisbergen and the Next Gen car's poor performance. However, Jim argued that the talent pool is growing with young drivers, including the youngest Trans-Am TA2 winners, Tristan McKee and Brent Crews, advancing on road courses.

"Lots of other good road races coming up the ladder system. Tristan McKee, Brent Crews, Helio Meza to name a couple. Even some guys who grew up on ovals are getting pretty good at it quickly like Carson Kvapil and Corey Heim. Races will be even better in future years," Jim Zilisch wrote on X.

Jim Zilisch

@jzilisch1

Lots of other good road races coming up the ladder system. Tristan McKee, Brent Crews, Helio Meza to name a couple. Even some guys who grew up on ovals are getting pretty good at it quickly like Carson Kvapil and Corey Heim. Races will be even better in future years.

Connor Zillisch is one of the best NASCAR Xfinity drivers on road courses. The JR Motorsports rookie claimed his first Xfinity Series win at Watkins Glen last year after leading a race-high 45 laps. He won at Circuit of the Americas from the pole position this season and added another road-course win at Sonoma Raceway, where he held off road-course specialist Van Gisbergen. At Watkins Glen last weekend, Zilisch led 60 laps and won the race.

Carson Kvapil has also earned two top-10 finishes at road courses this season. He earned a 5th-place finish at Watkins Glen and was placed 8th at Sonoma Raceway. Meanwhile, Corey Heim, who won the Truck race at Watkins Glen, is also excelling on road courses in the series. In June, he led 99 of 100 laps at Lime Rock Park to become the first Truck driver with three consecutive road course wins.

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What is Jeff Gluck's argument against six road/street course NASCAR Cup races?

Shane van Gisbergen, who led a race-high 38 of 90 laps at Watkins Glen last Sunday, now has four straight NASCAR Cup road course wins this season. Jeff Gluck highlighted the 36-year-old New Zealander's run and called for a cut in road events.

"I'm almost like, let's get back to two or three at this point. ... Let’s face it, I mean he's [SVG] stinking up the show, and the races with the Next Gen car on road courses aren't good anyway," Jeff Gluck argued.

Gluck added that road course races with NASCAR's Next Gen are no good and that there was no argument to keep the current six road/street course races in the Cup calendar.