In the 2024 season, Connor Zilisch has been a bit of a breakout star. You really have to wonder about which talent pool, Trackhouse Racing is fishing from. Last year, it was Shane van Gisbergen, who won his debut NASCAR race and continues to show his talent to this day. Even Ross Chastain has proven himself to be a top talent, while Daniel Suarez has shown flashes of brilliance. Now, it is Zilisch’s turn to hog the NASCAR spotlight.
Earlier, news broke that he will join JR Motorsports in 2025. To make matters even better, he will be making his Xfinity Series debut this season with the organization at Watkins Glen. As it happens, his 2024 contract encompasses four races, starting with The Glen. Zilisch is also expected to compete at Kansas, Homestead-Miami, and Phoenix. Additionally, he is also earning a second Truck Series start, this time at the Worldwide Express 250 in Richmond.
However, it is worth mentioning that NASCAR wasn’t in his career path while he was coming up the racing ranks. Much like many racing drivers, he set his sights on the pinnacle of motorsport, Formula One. Frankly, many racing drivers dream of making it into Formula One, but only 20 manage to make it.
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But how did Connor Zilisch end up in NASCAR?
Polls of the day Poll 1 of 4 Do you think Connor Zilisch made the right choice by abandoning his F1 dream for NASCAR? Absolutely No way Time will tell He should have stuck with F1 Have an interesting take? Join Debate Do you think Oscar Piastri will achieve the same level of success as Lewis Hamilton? Absolutely Maybe Not a chance Too early to tell Have an interesting take? Join Debate Do you think Kelly Piquet’s wedding dress choice was a bold statement? Absolutely Not at all It was okay Didn’t notice Have an interesting take? Join Debate Do you think Kylian Mbappe will thrive at Real Madrid? Absolutely No way Only time will tell He’ll struggle initially Have an interesting take? Join Debate
F1 is actually a very difficult market to enter. As it happened, the 18-year-old came across one of the biggest and most common stumbling blocks to F1. To be precise, he did not have the funds nor the sponsorship to try and enter Formula One. As such, the F1 dream pretty much became dead in the water, so he had to set his sights elsewhere and closer to home. Or was it an unknown opportunity that COVID-19 led to him?
Reflecting on how it all started, as Connor Zilisch sat down for the 566th episode of the Dale Jr. Download, he told Junior that it was Kevin Harvick who saw something in him and, “went up to my dad one day and said, ‘You know, what’s your plan with Connor?,” Connor Zilisch added.
Further adding on what was the major obstacle between his F1 dream and him, he said, “The biggest thing for me was, money. At the end of the day, to go race in Europe, there’s no sponsors in the feeder series of Formula 1. It’s a bunch of kids that are fortunate enough to go racing. Whether it’s family money or people they know. Whatever it may be, they got the chance to go do that. I never really had that opportunity.”
But did you know how far Zilisch went to understand the dynamics of entering and racing in Formula 1? Yes, he did go to different academies all over Europe. But nothing worked, as he mentioned, “I had a small talk with the Ferrari Driver Academy and different driver academies in Europe, but nothing came about. It’s kind of just, how it went, I think, five years ago, the view of Formula One in America was much different that it is today. Five years ago, nobody really knew or took F1 seriously, whereas today, I feel like it’s much bigger in America.”
via Imago Connor Zilisch
Connor Zilisch was in that position because he had been living in Italy while competing in a karting series there. Now, karting is one of the stepping stones towards advancing one’s career in motorsport. If motorsport was personified by video game levels, then karting was level 1. Truthfully, attempts were made, but nothing ever truly bore fruit.
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The 18-year-old’s pursuits so far
Zilisch evidently realized that F1 was a pipe dream, so he elected to ply his trade elsewhere. The youngster has experience in the Mazda MX-5 Cup and the IMSA Sportscar Championship. In essence, he is pretty much the younger version of Kyle Larson, largely due to his versatility. The best part is that he only just turned 18 last month, so he has a long career ahead of him.
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Naturally, Connor Zilisch will be keen to adapt to life in the NASCAR arena. In the Truck Series, he has allied with Spire Motorsports, who handed him his debut at Circuit of the Americas. Safe to say, he delivered handsomely, with a fine fourth place, and was even a contender to win the race, had he not made some rookie mistakes.
Now though, he will be gearing up for his Xfinity Series debut with JR Motorsports, driving the #88 Chevrolet. This could pretty much be a practice for him until he joins the team next year on a full-time basis.