Zilisch is perhaps the most exciting prospect to come along in more than a decade. At only 18, he boasts a versatile resume that includes a Rolex 24 class win and the 2020 CIK-FIA Karting Academy Trophy, becoming the first American to ever win the latter. He’s not just a prospect — he’s a prodigy, a driver who isn’t not a question of “if” he will dominate at the top level, but rather how quickly.
He’s not the only one, either. On Monday it was announced that Corey Day (also 18), who has already found success on dirt in the sprint car circuit, will be running some races in ARCA (NASCAR’s top regional level) beginning this coming weekend at Salem (Ind.) Speedway and has signed a developmental deal with Hendrick Motorsports. Day has drawn significant praise from Cup Series superstar Kyle Larson.
Yet there’s a chance that in a couple years’ time, both of them may pale in comparison next to currently 16-year-old Brent Crews, who on Saturday paired with veteran road racer Andy Lally to win a star-studded Trans-Am SpeedTour All-Star Race at Lime Rock Park. Lally started the race while competing against a field of former Cup stars and road ringers including Ryan Newman, Bobby Labonte, Greg Biffle, Boris Said and Ron Fellows, but it was Crews who did the dirty work in racing to the finish.
Crews, like Zilisch, has accumulated a variety of expertise that includes dirt, road racing and late models, and already boasts an ARCA win. He completes a trio of potential mega-stars in the making, the types of prospects who will make any existing “next big thing” in NASCAR’s lower levels look like just another guy.
It’s perhaps the most exciting wave of young talent NASCAR has seen since Larson, Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney all came up through the ranks in quick succession in the early 2010s. A decade later, all three drivers are now Cup Series champions, with Larson in particular living up to every bit of his prophesied destiny as one of the all-time motorsports greats.
There’s been talent to come along since then, such as William Byron, Tyler Reddick, Christopher Bell and Ty Gibbs, but none of those drivers have proved to be quite on that same level yet. It’s also hard to see any full-timer currently in the Xfinity or Truck Series having that potential — Corey Heim seems like Bell 2.0 in just about every way, and Jesse Love has had an impressive Xfinity rookie season, but there’s not much to suggest generational upside.
Zilisch could be generational. So could Day. So could Crews. NASCAR’s next era of young guns is on the horizon, and fans should be thrilled to follow this batch of racing prodigies as they climb their way to the top in the coming years.
