Connor Zilisch will head to Martinsville for the first time in a Cup car, stepping into the deep end at a track that leaves no room to breathe. The 19-year-old has logged laps there in the O’Reilly Series and Trucks, coming home ninth in the second race last year and 12th in the Truck race in 2024. The Next Gen car, though, has been a different beast, and it has not cut him any slack. He has shown pace this season, but one setback after another has kept him from cashing in.
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Even so, Zilisch is not backing down. Speaking ahead of the race weekend, he pointed to his past runs at Martinsville as a reason to keep the faith, noting that the track brings chaos in tight quarters but also delivers a brand of racing that keeps drivers on edge from green to checkered.
Keeping a lid on emotions will be half the battle, and letting go could be the key to success on the track. “You definitely have to manage your emotions at Martinsville. Tempers can flare, and it’s easy to get frustrated. Sometimes you’ve just got to let things go,” the Trackhouse Racing driver said.
“If somebody moves you up the track, you’ve got to let them go and get them back the next lap and not go into the next corner and completely wreck them. It’s tough at times when you’re getting your back bumper beat off to just let it happen, but at the end of the day, there’s not a lot you can do,” Zilisch said.
Pit road at Martinsville can be a minefield, and Zilisch understands the step up in Cup brings a new set of challenges compared to what he handled in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series. Track position can slip through a team’s fingers in the blink of an eye, and there is little margin to claw it back.
For the #88 driver, the path forward comes down to patience, even though he knows that the results sheet has not been kind so far. Through six starts, he has yet to crack the top 10, with two finishes inside the top 20. Zilisch sits 33rd in the standings with 69 points and holds an average finish of 26.
Darlington, however, offered a sign of life. Starting from 32nd, Zilisch worked his way through the field to finish 18th, picking up 19 points along the way. It may not have turned heads across the garage, but it showed he can keep his head down, take what the race gives, and move forward when the door opens.
