Kevin Harvick hilariously sounds off on 'accident-prone' Connor Zilisch, historic season after Gateway win

Connor Zilisch has everything figured out when it comes to being inside the race car. Getting out of his race car is another story.

After his win at Watkins Glen, Zilisch fell off the roof of his car in Victory Lane. He suffered a broken collarbone from the fall. Since then, Zilisch has found creative ways to get out of his car in Victory Lane. This past Saturday, he ripped his fire suit sliding down the windshield of his car after winning at Gateway. Zilisch locked up the NASCAR Xfinity Series regular season championship with that win and the way Kevin Harvick sees it, the only thing that can stop the 19-year-old is everything outside the race car.

“The biggest detriment to Connor is he’s just a little bit accident-prone outside of the race car. It’s never going to be inside the race car,” Harvick said on Tuesday’s Happy Hour podcast. “This week, he tore up his suit sliding down the car, got hooked on a hood pin and ripped the ass out of his suit. … Connor’s biggest fear is getting hurt exiting the car. Bout killed the cameraman doing his burnout, slid down there and bout wiped out the cameraman.”

The fire suit incident was only half of it. After taking his series leading ninth checkered flag of the season, Zilisch slid down the front straightaway in preparation for his victory burnout. He almost took out a cameraman doing it. Somehow, the cameraman didn’t even flinch as Zilisch came sliding mere feet away from him.

Connor Zilisch is as on fire as it gets

The thing is, Zilisch can’t stop winning; Gateway was his eighth win his last 11 starts. At some point, he’s got to figure out a safe way to celebrate. Those, however, are champagne problems for a driver who is doing things in Xfinity we haven’t seen for a long time. Harvick went as far to compare him to Kyle Busch.

Busch is the all-time wins leader in Xfinity history. His 13 wins in 2010 are the most in a single season. Zilisch, with nine wins in 2025, is four away from tying Busch for the single-season record. Seven races remain with the playoffs getting underway Friday at Bristol.

“Really, the only thing you can compare to the season he’s having — just outside the fact that he’s a rookie, he’s blowing all that away — you’re starting to get compared to those great years Kyle Busch had in the car,” Harvick said, “and all those wins and different things that he was able to accomplish when he was in his prime.”