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Shane van Gisbergen sends message to Connor Zilisch after winning NASCAR Cup Series Sonoma race

Brian Jones Profile Picby: Brian Jones07/14/25brianjones_93
Shane van Gisbergen Connor Zilisch
Stan Szeto-Imagn Images// Stan Szeto-Imagn Images

Shane van Gisbergen had a message for Connor Zilisch after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Sonoma race on Sunday. While speaking to reporters during his post-race press conference, van Gisbergen was asked what he was going to say to Zilisch when he talks to him.

“Thanks for not being in the race,” Shane van Gisbergen said while laughing. “I don’t know, I’m going to have to race him a lot in the future, right. He’s a star of the sport or going to be, even more so. Racing him yesterday, he doesn’t look like he’s 18. He’s placing the car in perfect spots and drives amazing, and he’s an awesome young kid. If he ends up being my teammate or not next year, I hope he does, it’ll be a lot of fun.”

Connor Zilisch is teammates with van Gisbergen. Zilisch drives in the Cup Series part-time for Trackhouse Racing and full-time in the Xfinity Series for JR Motorsports. Van Gisbergen is a full-time Cup driver for Trackhouse and a part-time Xfinity driver for JR.

Shane van Gisbergen and Connor Zilisch love racing each other

The two drivers have been battling against each other in the last two Xfinity races. Last week, van Gisbergen won the Chicago Street Race while Zilisch finished second. On Saturday, Zilisch won the Sonoma race, while van Gisbergen was the runner-up.

“First, hats off to Shane,” Zilisch said after climbing from his car after the Sonoma Xfinity race, per NASCAR.com. “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.”

Van Gisbergen and Zilisch are having strong rookie seasons. In the Cup Series, van Gisbergen has won three races, making him one of four drivers to reach that mark this year in 34 career Cup Series races, van Gisbergen has earned four wins and eight top-10 finishes.

In the Xfinity Series, Zilisch has won three races and has finished in the top five in the last seven races. In his Xfinity Series career, the 18-year-old has recorded four victories and 13 top-10 finishes in 22 events.