CHARLOTTE, N.C. — As sleet pelted Bowman Gray Stadium amid near-freezing temperatures during NASCAR’s preseason Clash exhibition Wednesday night in Winston-Salem, multiple drivers complained about poor visibility and the wet conditions on the quarter-mile track.
One of them — the youngest in the field — hit the button on his radio and grumbled it was time to get back to racing, no matter the conditions.
“We’re professional race car drivers — it’s our job to go figure it out,” 19-year-old Connor Zilisch radioed to his Trackhouse Racing No. 88 Chevrolet team.
The teenager is the most hyped rookie in the top-tier Cup Series in decades.
There was Kyle Busch in 2003, who had already been promoted by forerunner Kurt Busch — inducted last month into the NASCAR Hall of Fame — who famously said, “If you think I’m good, wait until you see my brother.” The younger Busch had been ready to go for two years, but a rule was added that raised the minimum age to compete at the top level to 18, and he was forced to wait — which only built the anticipation for a driver who continues to compete in a career that includes two Cup Series championships.