19-year-old Connor Zilisch is getting a full-time NASCAR Cup Series run with Trackhouse Racing, replacing fan favorite Daniel Suarez.
The young star has quickly risen through the American racing ladder, making good on the potential that he showed early on.
He joined Trackhouse’s development program in January 2024 and got an Xfinity Series drive with Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s JR Motorsports.
Zilisch has won eight of the 27 races that he has started in, his most recent one coming Friday at Daytona International Speedway.
Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images
Previously at The Glen, Zilisch had a nasty fall in victory lane, which led to a broken collarbone two weeks ago.
For the race in Daytona, the 19-year-old started the race, but driver Parker Kligerman took over the car to bring it home after Lap 13.
Now, Zilisch is headed for a full-time drive for the 2026 Cup Series season.
According to the announcement, the agreement is for multiple years with Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet, joining stars Ross Chastain and Shane van Gisbergen at the team.
“This day has been a dream of mine for a long time,” Zilisch said.
“Cup racing has been the goal since joining with Chevrolet and Trackhouse, and while I didn’t know it would come this soon, I feel like I’m ready.
“I know the challenge that awaits entering the Cup Series as a full-time driver, but I feel that with the support of Trackhouse and Chevrolet, this is the right situation for me.
“I won’t be making any predictions for success next year. All I promise is to put in 100 percent effort, learn all that I can, plus have a little bit of fun along the way!”
Before coming over to stock car racing, Zilisch spent time at the Rolex 24 at Daytona and Sebring 12 Hours, getting class victories at both races.
He also grew up karting in Europe, and has spoken about potentially joining Formula 1, though those ambitions have been put on hold for the time being as he gets ready to race in the cup series.
After the announcement of the Zilisch seat came through, NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Jr. gave the young talent high praise.
“I mean, the only thing I think it’s close to is probably Jeff Gordon or Jimmie Johnson,” Earnhardt said.
“So he might be even more of a comet … he might be even more rare than that, because I don’t know, man, if you all get a chance to spend time around him, you’ll realize how mature he is, and I think there’s probably a lot of parents in the room that would be amazed at his level of maturity.”
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