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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A promising young driver who might just be one of NASCAR’s budding new stars will make his national series debut this Saturday in the Truck Series race at Circuit of the Americas.

Connor Zilisch, 17, will then hop a private jet and hustle his way to Pensacola, Florida, to compete in a feeder series race later that night. It’s a strange doubleheader –Zilisch has yet to ever drive in one of NASCAR’s trucks or the ARCA East Series.

He probably has Kevin Harvick — or maybe Harvick’s 11-year-old son — to blame for the grueling schedule laid out for him this year.

Born and raised in Charlotte and go-karting before he started school, Zilisch never had any interest in NASCAR despite living in the de facto homebase for America’s stock car racing series.

He liked karting, liked racing in Europe and followed that path. That’s how he became karting teammates in 2021 with Keelan Harvick, who was only 8 at the time. When Keelan’s father could make it to a race, 15-year-old Zilisch received exposure and advice he once could only have dreamed of accessing.

“Kevin kind of suggested that I look into stock car racing, and he got me my first race in a stock car when I was 15, and I qualified on the pole and was leading the race until the engine broke,” Zilisch told The Associated Press. “It was good enough to get me a ride for the season after in the Trans-Am Series and that started my stock car transition.

“It’s rare that a father there to see his own son race wants to help someone else, but he was keen to help me and wanted to make sure I got the opportunities that he felt I deserved. I wouldn’t be where I am without Kevin’s guidance and him giving me the chance to meet the right people. It’s not about what you know, it’s about who you know, and Kevin knows everybody.”

Zilisch is now represented by Harvick’s management firm and in January signed a multiyear development deal with Trackhouse Racing.

“This kid is an amazing talent who we wanted to be a part of the Trackhouse family,” Trackhouse team owner Justin Marks said. “We are going to go slow with Connor and make sure he’s fully prepared as he advances in what we believe will be a long racing career.”

He’ll run a variety of different series this year in the CARS Tour, ARCA, Trans-Am, IMSA, Trucks, and, when he turns 18 later this year, is expected to enter four Xfinity Series races for JR Motorsports.

In all, Zilisch figures he has 37 race weekends scheduled for this year spanning multiple series.

His NASCAR debut comes with Spire Motorsports in a truck on the road course of the Austin, Texas track, and Spire drivers have won three of the first four Truck Series races this season.

But Zilisch goes to COTA on a winning streak of his own. Age-eligible to compete in IMSA sports car racing, he made his debut in January as the endurance driver for Era Motorsports and picked up LMP2 class wins in both the Rolex 24 at Daytona and last weekend at the 12 Hours of Sebring.

He also finished second at Sebring in both Mazda MX-5 Cup races last weekend — losing both on last-lap passes. His second defeat was by a scant .0004 seconds.

Zilisch’s credentials are legitimate and now he gets to see what he can do in NASCAR, where he’s not eligible until he turns 18 in July to compete in anything higher than the Truck Series.

This first weekend is a big one for him — even after his two wins in his first-ever endurance races. Prior to Daytona and Sebring, Zilisch had never raced in an event that lasted longer than an hour.

All his preparation for his Truck Series debut has been in a simulator and his 20-minute practice session at COTA will be his first time on track in a truck.

“I just want to run all the laps. The Truck Series is totally new to me, so I don’t want to set my expectations anywhere,” Zilisch said. “I do want to succeed, but I’ve got to do what’s in my control and not make mistakes. Pit road is going to be new to me, so just minimizing mistakes, if I can do that, the speed will be there and I can get a good finish. It’s going to be tricky.”

And then it’s off to Pensacola, where Zilisch will start his pursuit of the ARCA East championship. Because he will be at COTA starting Thursday, he’ll be jumping directly in the car once he arrives.

“I’m going to show up without practice or qualifying and just start the race,” he said. “I’ve never been to Pensacola before … it’s definitely not going to be easy to show up without any experience at the place, but I feel confident in the team around me.”

His motto for what will be a whirlwind season driving in just about every series is simple: “I’ve just got to show up and learn quickly.”

Zilisch has so far done that at every step of his young career.

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Yelich fuels rally, Brewers extend win streak to 13

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Yelich fuels rally, Brewers extend win streak to 13

CINCINNATI — Christian Yelich had two homers among his four hits and drove in five runs as the Milwaukee Brewers overcame a seven-run deficit to beat the Cincinnati Reds 10-8 Friday night for their club record-tying 13th straight victory.

The Brewers became the first team in 94 years to extend a double-digit win streak with a comeback win of seven or more runs, according to ESPN Research.

The Reds chased Brewers rookie Jacob Misiorowski – making his first start since July 28 – with a seven-run seventh inning to take an 8-1 lead.

Yelich homered leading off the second against Nick Martinez for Milwaukee’s first run. He had an RBI double in the third before Andrew Vaughn hit his 14th homer – a three-run shot – and Brice Turang‘s RBI double to cut it to 8-6. Yelich had a two-run single in the fourth to tie it at 8-all and then hit his 26th homer – a one-out, solo shot off Scott Barlow (6-1) in the sixth to give the Brewers the lead.

Yelich did his damage with a bat honoring the late Bob Uecker. It had the home run call of the former catcher and longtime Brewers’ announcer written on it.

This was also Yelich’s third career game with four hits and two home runs, tying Ryan Braun and Willy Adames for most in franchise history, according to ESPN Research.

Brandon Lockridge went 3 for 5 and doubled off Sam Moll with two outs in the seventh before scoring on a wild pitch for an insurance run.

Misiorowski loaded the bases with one out in the second on a hit batter and two walks and left after walking Spencer Steer to force in a run. Elly De La Cruz had the first hit in the inning – a two-run double off DL Hall for a 4-1 lead. Four straight singles increased the lead to 8-1.

Misiorowski was charged with five runs on four hits and three walks in 1 1/3 innings hours after coming off the injured list. Nick Mears (4-3) pitched a scoreless fifth. Trevor Megill struck out two in the ninth for his 29th save. Six relievers combined to retire the final 23 Reds in order.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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Slumping Dodgers lose 3B Muncy (oblique) to IL

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Slumping Dodgers lose 3B Muncy (oblique) to IL

LOS ANGELES — Third baseman Max Muncy was diagnosed with a Grade 1 oblique strain and landed on the injured list Friday, a major blow to a Los Angeles Dodgers team that finds itself fading in the standings.

Muncy was originally a late scratch from Wednesday’s lineup after feeling soreness in his right side during pregame batting practice. The Dodgers’ hope was that sitting out for the finale from Angel Stadium, then getting extra rest during the Thursday off day, would allow Muncy to return for a critical series against the division-rival San Diego Padres, who have taken a one-game lead in the National League West.

But Muncy will miss this weekend’s series from Dodger Stadium, as well as the following series from San Diego’s Petco Park next weekend.

“I don’t think anyone expects it to be season-ending,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, “but hopefully it’s sooner than later.”

Roberts doesn’t believe the current oblique injury is as bad as the one that forced Muncy to miss about two months last year, but even in a best-case scenario, the Dodgers might be without their third baseman and left-handed power hitter until around mid-September.

Muncy got off to a bad start this year before turning it on in the middle of May, slashing .312/.438/.616 with 11 home runs in a stretch of 41 games. Muncy then injured his left knee during a scary collision at third base and wound up missing most of July. He returned Aug. 4, went 8-for-23 with four home runs over the course of eight games, and now he’s out again — at a time when the reigning World Series champs could really use some reinforcements.

The Dodgers held a nine-game lead in the NL West as of July 3 and have since gone 12-21 to fall a game back of a surging Padres team that arrived in L.A. on the heels of a five-game winning streak. As many as six high-leverage relievers reside on the Dodgers’ IL, though three of them — Michael Kopech, Kirby Yates and Tanner Scott — are nearing returns. The offense, meanwhile, has been mostly unproductive over the past six weeks, posting an 0.708 OPS that ranks 22nd in the major leagues.

During Muncy’s absence, the Dodgers will use Alex Freeland, a switch-hitting rookie who’s batting .176 in his first 12 games, and Buddy Kennedy, a right-handed-hitting journeyman with a career .193 batting average. Other potential reinforcements like Tommy Edman, Hyeseong Kim and Enrique Hernandez remain on the IL and aren’t close enough to a return.

“It’s certainly a tough loss,” Roberts said. “I think it’s just guys got to continue to perform to their abilities. It’s hard to kind of backfill Max, what he means, as far as the plate discipline, the slug, the on-base, all that stuff. I feel good about our lineup, the guys that we have, and they just have to go out there and take good at-bats. That’s all we can do right now.”

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Phils’ Duran takes liner off foot; X-rays negative

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Phils' Duran takes liner off foot; X-rays negative

WASHINGTON — Philadelphia Phillies closer Jhoan Duran was carted off the field after he took a comebacker off his right foot in the ninth inning of a 6-2 victory over the Washington Nationals on Friday night.

The Phillies said that initial X-rays were negative and that Duran would be evaluated further Saturday.

Pitching in a non-save situation after four days off, Duran began the ninth by facing Paul DeJong, who hit a sharp grounder to the mound on his fourth pitch. The ball deflected off Duran’s foot and into foul territory for a single.

Duran ran toward the ball but began limping as he approached the foul line. After a lengthy visit by team trainers, he took a seat in the Nationals’ bullpen cart and was driven off the field.

“He ran like a shot to retrieve the ball, and once he got there, I think the adrenaline wore off and the pain set in,” Thomson said. “But before the cart came out, he said, ‘I actually feel better, I think I can walk over to the dugout.’ But we got all these steps up here, so we just wanted to use the cart and take him all the way around, so he didn’t have to go up the steps.”

Acquired from Minnesota at the trade deadline, Duran is 4-for-4 in save opportunities with the Phillies.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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