Zilisch heads for COTA debut with an eye on the record for youngest Cup Series winner
Yesterday at 03:28 PM
Trackhouse Racing was planning for Connor Zilisch to make his NASCAR Cup Series debut later in the year. The 18-year-old, however, had other ideas and convinced the organization that Circuit of The Americas was the place to make it happen.
"Honestly, I want to get in as early as possible," said Zilisch ahead of this weekend's race.
COTA is the third race of the season. It will host the Xfinity Series — where Zilisch is full-time with JR Motorsports — as well as the Cup Series. The doubleheader was part of Zilisch's reasoning for why it was a good weekend for his debut. Zilisch will run the Xfinity Series race on Saturday and then make his debut with Trackhouse Racing in the No. 87, with Red Bull as his primary sponsor in its return to the sport, on Sunday.
But there was also another reason Zilisch wanted it to happen sooner rather than later.
"I want to try and become the youngest Cup Series winner, and to do that, I have to race as soon as possible and get it in before I turn 19," Zilisch said. "I wanted to at least give myself a shot at that. So, that was definitely part of my thinking. Honestly, I don't think there was anything that told me that I’m not ready to race on a road course on Sunday."
Zilisch turns 19 on July 22. The youngest Cup Series winner is Joey Logano, who won in 2009 when he was 19, one month, and four days old.
Trackhouse Racing is fielding a fourth car for Zilisch at COTA. The organization announced in January it had signed Zilisch, who has quickly become one of the sport's top prospects, to a multiyear agreement.
In addition to running the full Xfinity Series slate, Zilisch will have a full schedule of racing events. These include the Craftsman Truck Series, ARCA Menards Series, CARS Tour, Trans Am, IMSA, and now his Cup Series debut.
"I think I go into this weekend with the same mindset I did the Xfinity debut: I have no expectations," Zilisch said. "I don't expect to win, and I go in expecting to learn and pick up as much as I can from the weekend. But there's always a chance your car is really good, you get up to speed fast and you get the opportunity to win the race. I don't think we would do this race if we didn't think there was a chance I could compete at the front. So, that's my goal going in.
"If we're not a top-10 car, then just go out and learn as much as we can. But at the end of the day, if we have a really fast car and I've gotten up to speed fast, then we can go out and race and hopefully compete for at least a top five, top 10, and have a solid day. I never expected to win in my Xfinity debut , so that kind of showed me anything can happen and if I prepare well enough, I think I have a chance to run up front on Sunday, too."
His goal is to become a full-time Cup Series driver, but Zilisch said he's taking it one race at a time. He does not want to jump into the Cup Series if he's not winning at the Xfinity Series level.
"I want to be prepared when I make that jump and I think that's crucial for me," Zilisch said. "I still have a lot of work to do to race against Joey Logano, Kyle Larson and those guys. It's going to be a jump to race on Sundays, so when I make that transition, I want to be ready for it. I'm in no rush to get there but obviously, that's not my decision. Everyone else around me has a better understanding of what that transition is like, and they'll know when I'm ready."
