Connor Zilisch has a rare advantage over the vast majority of young NASCAR Cup Series rookies.
Cup Series newbies, by and large, struggle. Teenage Cup Series rookies really struggle. Teenage Cup Series rookies driving for teams who don't have a single car in a postseason qualification spot after 11 races...you get the idea.
The youngster has found his rookie year tough going, and a real step up from his historic Xfinity Series dominance (ending, ridiculously, without a title to show for it – playoffs, we will not miss you).
His 16th place finish at Texas on Sunday was the first time in over a month Zilisch has finished a race on the lead lap. It moved him from 33rd in the points standings to...33rd in the points standings.
We're still getting to the rare advantage bit.
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Road course wizardry a Zilisch superpower
See, none of the above is a criticism of Zilisch. He's been driving at the top level of the sport every week for the first time, he's 19 years old, and he's part of a team that seems to have lost a chunk of performance between seasons.
Despite the fact that this is broadly what should be expected from him this year, it is powerfully demoralizing to run near the back every Sunday, especially after such a history of success.
What sets Zilisch apart from most rookies in his situation is that he is fast on road courses to an absolutely unholy degree. There are fewer road courses on the schedule this year compared to last – four instead of six – but that still means that every couple of months, the kid gets to mix it right at the front.
That's generally put down to spending his early teenage summers in Europe, racing karts against drivers including current F1 championship leader Kimi Antonelli and another F1 driver in Arvid Lindblad.
But for getting wrecked at a final stage restart, Zilisch could (and probably should) have won at COTA. Some of the blame for that wreck can be laid at his feet – he put himself in a spot where if cars wrecked inside, he was getting caught up – but he looked like the fastest man on track for much of the afternoon.
That should be the case again, as he pulls triple duty at a track where he has a 100 per cent winning record in the O'Reilly Series (and only a 50 per cent record of breaking his collarbone celebrating those wins).
It's impossible to overstate the morale impact on being able to get out on track and really, truly compete as one of the two or three favorites for a race win. Zilisch will have that this weekend and then twice more this year, a boost which young rookies in his situation so rarely get.
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