Connor Zilisch took his No. 88 Cup car in the season’s opening exhibition, the Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium. Although the event carried no championship points, the race was his first real exposure to competing for Trackhouse Racing in a full-time Cup Series setting.
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Starting the night from P19, Zilisch brought the car home in P18. Still, the 19-year-old acknowledged that the experience itself mattered more than the result. Revisiting the race, he explained that as moisture settled on the surface, he found rhythm during the opening laps and worked his way into the top five for a stretch.
“Chaos everywhere, I hit people, people hit me, a lot going on, but overall it was fun, I learned a lot. I’m glad I made it into the show and got to experience that. I had a lot of valuable lessons,” he said to PRN Live.
Zilisch further addressed the difference between racing on a soaked surface with wet-weather tires and navigating a track that began to dry while staying on the same rubber. Reflecting on how the changing conditions altered the competition, he noted, “It’s fun until the track starts to get one lane that’s dry, then it becomes a little bit messy with guys just sliding up and taking the dry line away.”
The Trackhouse Racing driver expanded on that point by stressing how the racing quality declined once the track started drying up. “So, I wish they let us start racing sooner in the wet because when the track was wet, that’s when it was the most fun because you could move around and you could make the bottom work a little bit, but as soon as one lane started to dry up, that third lane, it just kind of took away the racing aspect and became a bit of a crash fest.”
Rookie Connor Zilisch evaluates The Clash from his perspective.
“They could’ve let us race [in the wet] sooner… I had fun.” pic.twitter.com/216ErH9kT0
— PRN (@PRNlive) February 5, 2026
Despite the challenges, Zilisch said the conditions demanded constant discipline behind the wheel, and throttle control became essential on slick surfaces. Outside of those adjustments, he felt capable of continuing in wetter conditions for longer than what happened.
The wet tires maintained performance, which added to his appreciation that NASCAR allowed competition to continue in the rain, even though he reiterated his preference for an earlier start while the surface remained fully wet.
Meanwhile, he was not devoid of any contacts at Bowman Gray, and Zilisch found himself involved in several on-track incidents. He carried no resentment toward other drivers and addressed the situation directly by saying, “Hopefully nobody wants to fight me.”
Still, he did not sidestep responsibility when discussing an incident involving Ty Gibbs. Zilisch acknowledged fault in that exchange and stated that he owed Gibbs an apology. Beyond that moment, he pointed out that he absorbed several hits himself during the race.
