Connor Zilisch finds himself in a bind after three starts in the NASCAR Cup Series this season. While he showed pace at Circuit of the Americas last Sunday, a chain of events during the race knocked him off stride and left him with a P14 finish. The result adds to a rough opening stretch for the Trackhouse Racing driver, who now sits 32nd in the standings with 32 points.
Advertisement
The start stands completely in contrast to the run he produced last year in the junior O’Reilly Series (then referred to as Xfinity). Zilisch closed last season with a P2 in the final standings after stacking up 10 wins, 20 top-five finishes, and 23 top-10 runs. While his performance last year set the bar extremely high, the same level of pace has not transferred into the top tier for the young driver, at least not yet.
Even during the race at COTA, Zilisch picked up lessons while slicing through the field. Comparing the style of racing between the junior ranks and Sunday’s Cup field, he pointed out how the tempo of battles shifts once the grid is filled with veteran drivers.
“I feel like it’s aggressive in Cup, but when I was coming through the field at COTA, there were a lot more guys who were generous than I remember on Saturdays. Even when you get to the top-10, guys aren’t racing you when they know that you’re faster. On Saturdays, I feel like every guy races you hard for every spot, even if you’re a second faster,” said the Trackhouse Racing driver.
“I can’t say the restarts are any less aggressive in Cup because I got taken out twice last Sunday. The Cup guys are all really smart. I feel like they make a lot more intelligent moves to put you in bad spots. It’s a lot harder to make up positions in those moments than it is on Saturday,” he continued.
Zilisch aims to remain wary in Phoenix
Next on the calendar is Phoenix Raceway, a track that has treated him well in the past. Zilisch led most laps in his first start there to win the Desert Diamond Casino 100 in the ARCA Menards Series. Last year, he also climbed into the JR Motorsports No. 88 car and finished third in one race while closing the season second in the standings.
Even with that history, given Phoenix carries its own set of hurdles, Zilisch intends to stay cautious. The track’s layout opens the door for moves all across the racing surface, with multiple lanes, especially during restarts as drivers dive through the dogleg and surge back onto the racing groove.
The No. 88 Trackhouse Racing driver also detailed how the run from the flat section, aka the apron of the unique dogleg, back onto the banking can jolt drivers hard enough that, even in earlier series, he sometimes had to pull his helmet back down as the field stormed through the corner.
With these unique challenges to master, along with the Cup Series competitors’ calculated nature, it remains to be seen when the No. 88 Chevrolet driver can log his breakout win in NASCAR’s top rank.
