“I respect the hell out of him for that”: Connor Zilisch praises Shane van Gisbergen's late-race decision at Sonoma

Connor Zilisch became a four-time Xfinity Series race winner after bagging what was his third victory of the 2025 season at Sonoma Raceway on Saturday, July 12. However, it wasn’t easy as the JR Motorsports driver had to beat former Supercars icon and street course expert Shane van Gisbergen along the way.

Connor Zilisch and van Gisbergen led a combined 70 of the 79 laps, making the race essentially a two-man show. While Zilisch stomped on the gas as hard as he could on the final lap, Gisbergen saw his opening in Turn 7. He could have easily bumped the 18-year-old speedster out of the way and grabbed the checkered flag.

But he did not. Instead, he backed off and chose to let the race play out. Needless to say, Connor Zilisch was happy about it. Giving Gisbergen a shout-out during his post-race interview, the #88 driver said,

“That was awesome. All race long, I felt like we were racing each other with respect. I wheel-hopped a little bit in Turn 7 one time and got into him. Otherwise, it was awesome to get to race against him finally and battle with him the whole race long.”

“There was a chance that he could have gotten by me when he hit me, but he let me have it and raced me clean. I respect the hell out of him for that, and I’m looking forward to racing against him more,” he added.

Zilisch will face Gisbergen again at Watkins Glen in August. For now, he will prepare for next week’s race at Dover Motor Speedway. Gisbergen, on the other hand, will compete in Sunday’s (July 13) Cup Series race at Sonoma Raceway. He won last week in Chicago, which allows him to go for a back-to-back sweep.

Named Toyota/Save Mart 350, the 110-lap event will be televised on TNT Sports, 3:30 pm ET onwards. Fans can watch it live or listen to its radio updates on PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson happens to be the defending winner of the 2024 event at the 2.52-mile road course.

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“Tried every trick I could”- Shane van Gisbergen opens up on racing Connor Zilisch at Sonoma

Shane van Gisbergen and Connor Zilisch started from the top two positions for the second consecutive week at Sonoma. But this time around, Gisbergen couldn’t work past his JR Motorsports teammate.

“I couldn't do it without wrecking him, so just tried every trick I could," van Gisbergen said after settling for a P2 finish. "But he drove so well and couldn't get him. And I think it was the last lap into (Turn) 7, I got there but wheel-hopped, pushed him wide and yeah…could have gone but just waited.”

“I didn't want to do it like that,” he added.

Notably, Gisbergen did earn Zilisch’s respect. A runner-up finish didn’t really matter a lot to the Auckland native, as he is a part-timer in the Xfinity Series. His full-time gig is in the NASCAR Cup Series, where he drives the No. 88 Chevy Camaro for Trackhouse Racing.

But for Connor Zilisch, the win meant a lot. It propelled him from P5 to P4 on points, right behind Justin Allgaier, Sam Mayer, and Austin Hill.