Denny Hamlin Says Rising Star Connor Zilisch 'More Cup Ready' Than SVG Was

Denny Hamlin Says Rising Star Connor Zilisch ‘More Cup Ready’ Than SVG Was originally appeared on Athlon Sports.

Shane van Gisbergen took the NASCAR world by storm in 2023, winning his first Cup Series race on the streets of Chicago driving for Project 91 in affiliation with Trackhouse Racing. 

Fast forward to this year and a new road course ace has caught plenty of eyes in his first full-time Xfinity Series season. Connor Zilisch, driver of the No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, scored his first Xfinity Series victory in his first career start last year at Watkins Glen after starting from the pole position. 

Now 15 races into the 2025 season and Zilisch has made a name for himself with several impressive runs.

That includes last weekend’s race at Pocono Raceway, where the rookie scored his first oval win with Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. calling the shots as crew chief.

On his “Actions Detrimental” podcast this week, Denny Hamlin suggested that Zilisch is more Cup Series race ready than van Gisbergen was entering 2025.

“I would say that he’s more prepared for Cup than what SVG was entering this season,” Hamlin said. “SVG’s getting better on the ovals. Certainly it’s starting to show over the last four or five weeks.

“And Connor I think would perform maybe not as good as SVG on the road courses right away, but has the potential to be there pretty quickly. Winning an oval race in Xfinity and winning an oval race in Cup, it’s such a huge jump.”

Zilisch will make his third Cup Series start when the green flag flies at EchoPark Speedway (formerly Atlanta Motor Speedway) Saturday, June 28 at 7 p.m. ET on TNT.

Related: Denny Hamlin ‘Tried the Best’ Moves on Chase Briscoe at Pocono Cup Race

This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 26, 2025, where it first appeared.

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