NASCAR bold predictions: Connor Zilisch to win race in rookie Cup season?

The 2025 NASCAR season is right around the corner.

This Sunday the season kicks off with the Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina (8 p.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app), with the Daytona 500 to follow just two weeks later (Feb. 16 at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX).

With that in mind, Kevin Harvick, Kaitlyn Vincie and FOX Sports Motorsports Insider Bob Pockrass each provided a prediction for the 2025 season on the latest edition of “Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour.”

Kevin Harvick: Kyle Larson–Christopher Bell rivalry will intensify

What Harvick said: “I think the Larson-Bell rivalry is something that we all hope for but has a lot more opportunity to be in more places than just NASCAR. The Chili Bowl already had that, the micros and everything that they raced already has a little bit of that spice that I think is the ability to be able to see that on a racetrack. We’ve seen it in the past a little bit, but I think that that rivalry spices up because we see it in more places than just on the NASCAR track.”

Background: On Jan. 4, Bell edged out Larson by one-tenth of a second in the Tulsa Shootout, a micro-sprint racing event. This isn’t the first time that Larson, the 2021 Cup Series champion, dabbled in other forms of racing, as he finished 18th in the 2024 Indianapolis 500 — and then hours later attempted to also race in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, which Bell ironically won in a rain-shortened race.

Both Larson and Bell had competitive 2024 campaigns, with the former winning six races and posting 15 top-five finishes and the latter winning three races and posting 15 top-five finishes. That said, they each came up just short of a championship, as Joey Logano stunned the field in the NASCAR playoff to win his third championship.

Kaitlyn Vincie: Shane van Gisbergen will win multiple Cup Series races

What Vincie said: “I just feel like there’s a lot of momentum around this team. I like the energy. I like his attitude. He told you he’s not even setting goals for the year. I kind of like how he approaches the season. We know he’s going to be really good on road courses. He’s already won on one, of course, [at] Chicago, which’s we’re going back to. We have six of those [road courses] on the schedule. I think, wouldn’t it be neat if he won at Mexico?”

Background: Van Gisbergen emerged on the NASCAR scene in 2023, starting two races and winning his first, that being the Chicago Street Race. Last season, he appeared in 12 Cup Series races, posting two top-10 finishes. Van Gisbergen primarily spent the 2024 season in the Xfinity Series, winning three races, posting seven top-five finishes and 10 top-10 finishes.

The 35-year-old van Gisbergen, who was previously a three-time Supercars Championship winner in Australia, is part of Team Trackhouse.

Bob Pockrass: Connor Zilisch will end up in victory lane

What Pockrass said: “The way he won Watkins Glen in his first Xfinity race [impressed me], and I know it’s a huge jump from Xfinity to Cup … [but] he’s really good on road courses. I’m not going to say he’s going to go out and win COTA his first one, but I think that he will win a Cup race.”

Background: Zilisch will make his Cup Series debut in the No. 87 for Trackhouse at COTA. He will race full-time in the Xfinity Series for JR Motorsports.

The 18-year-old Zilisch started six races in the 2024 Truck Series season and four races in the Xfinity Series. Most notably, Zilisch won his first Xfinity race, which was at Watkins Glen International, and had three top-five finishes.

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