After getting swept into a multi-car pileup in Stage 2 on Lap 85 last weekend at Daytona, Connor Zilisch finished the famed season opener in P33. The Trackhouse Racing driver got loose in Turn 4 while racing three-wide, bouncing off Justin Allgaier and setting off a chain reaction that caught nine cars in its wake.
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However, last weekend’s performance aside, Zilisch now braces for another drafting competition. Going back-to-back on a superspeedway-style track like Atlanta Motor Speedway may feel like stepping into the unknown, but the rookie seems ready to roll with the punches.
Daytona’s result might signal to some that Zilisch might want to circle to a track he knows or head to a road course where he might feel slightly better. Yet ahead of this weekend’s race, the 19-year-old made it clear that he is still treating each lap as a lesson. For him, the goal is to learn lessons on the track, no matter the venue.
During a scrum interview at the venue, Zilisch said, “It’s definitely unique, but for me, as someone with not a lot of experience, it’s definitely helpful coming to a place like this again. I learn the runs and how they’re built, and just how the cars drive, and the draft and the things you got to look for. So, it might not help one of the more experienced guys, but for me, who is learning every race, it definitely helps no matter where I go.”
Last year, when he went into the Quaker State 400 at Atlanta, Zilisch came back home in P11. His Xfinity outings at the track tell a mixed tale, with finishes of P34 and P4. In all, he has three starts on the unique superspeedway. It now remains to be seen how well he does now that he drives full-time in the sport’s top tier.
And while he is hoping to do better at Atlanta this time around, the metric score that set the grid after qualifying was washed out by rain, did not do him any favors. Zilisch will take the green from P31, dropping him straight into the thick of the draft.
The Trackhouse Racing driver flashed pace at last weekend’s Daytona race before getting caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. With this being his second Cup start as a full-time driver, it remains to be seen if Zilisch can master one of the more unique tracks on the calendar, owing to its similarities to a superspeedway, yet with the demands of a good handling car like an intermediate.
