WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — Anytime that Connor Zilisch is in the ARCA Menards Series field, it’s a tough task to dethrone him.
On Friday at Watkins Glen Int’l, nobody even had a chance.
In a race that stayed caution-free outside of the mid-race break, Zilisch led all 41 laps to win Friday’s General Tire 100 in the Finger Lakes region of Upstate New York.
“That was a nice race after a lot of stressful races we’ve had this year – to have one that kind of came a little bit easier,” Zilisch said in a post-race press conference. “It was a credit to my team and everyone around me who made that possible.”
Qualifying on the pole, Zilisch led by 15 seconds at the halfway break and finished more than 11 seconds ahead of William Sawalich, the second-place finisher.
Last year, Zilisch had a heartbreaking defeat in his ARCA debut. He led most of the race before a broken sway bar and rain – along with a nudge in the final corner from Jesse Love – put a halt to that effort.
He said that the win still doesn’t account for last year – but a win in his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut Saturday would.
“Still doesn’t make up for last year, but it sure makes it a lot easier,” he said. “It’s more enjoyable to dominate a race like that, but I’m excited to race tomorrow and go against guys that are proven and have won a lot of races on road courses.
“That was kind of 41 laps of practice and kind of preparing myself for tomorrow … I was definitely not giving it all I had.”
Even with Zilisch admitting he only ran 70 percent at times, Sawalich didn’t have anything for the winner. A Quarter Midget and Legend Cars racer at heart, he’s learning and developing on road courses, even winning earlier this year at Mid-Ohio.
So all things considered, he’ll take a runner-up.
“[Zilisch] was really fast, and we just were honestly a second-place car all day and I was fine with that,” Sawalich said. “I had a lot of fun out there, really cool track. So just can’t thank the guys enough for bringing me a good car and coming home in one piece.
“Last year, I probably didn’t learn too much [on road courses]. But this year, I’ve been working with Jack Hawksworth (IMSA driver), so I can’t thank him enough to get me straight on these places and just get some speed out of me.”
Brandon Jones, an Xfinity Series regular for JR Motorsports, made a one-off for Cook Racing Technologies, came home third. Ultimately, it’s experience for Saturday’s 82-lapper – where Jones needs to win to make the playoffs.
“The main goal today was to go out here and see the racetrack and see how it’s going to race with all the new changes,” Jones said, referring to the new curbing in Turn One and the Bus Stop. “I come to do these to get better at this craft. It’s not something I grew up doing. So I just continue to try and work on that.”
Andres Perez and Connor Mosack completed the top five, with Gio Ruggiero, Thomas Annunziata, Ryan Gemmell, Lavar Scott and Dylan Lupton completing the top 10.
Toni Breidinger started the event in her No. 25 Toyota Camry but exited her car at the break due to a burn she suffered in a previous accident. Her crew chief, Cayden Lapcevich, took over and finished the race 17th, one lap down. Lapcevich is a former NASCAR Pinty’s Series champion.
Amber Balcean had technical issues in qualifying that carried over to the race. Her car began smoking on pit road shortly after firing engines and she never turned a lap.
The ARCA Menards Series returns Thursday, Sept. 19 in a conjunction race with the ARCA Menards Series East.