At just 19 years of age, Connor Zilisch has been announced as the third driver of Trackhouse Racing’s Cup Series line-up for the 2026 season. The youngster is currently racing for JR Motorsports in the Xfinity Series and is one of the strongest favorites for the title. In light of his growing popularity, the three-time Cup Series champion, Joey Logano, had some wisdom to impart.
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Logano, too, made it into the Cup Series when he was still a teenager. He humbly acknowledged during the recent playoff media day that Zilisch is better than he was at that age.
Asked what advice he’d give him, he said, “I’d say that the biggest thing is it’s easy as an 18 or 19 year old to drink the Kool-Aid. Yeah, he’s a great driver. There’s no doubt. He can win a lot of Xfinity races.
“Cup racing is different. Everybody is great at this level. Everybody is fantastic, so you can’t drink your own Kool-Aid too much to where you think you’re the next thing, and then you’re gonna get here and fall on your face. I lived it. I’ve been there.”
As much as he thinks Zilisch is a fantastic driver, he warned him that he must remain humble throughout the upcoming journey.
Logano made his Cup Series debut on June 21, 2008, at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon. He was just 18 years, 3 months, and 21 days old at the time.
All the hype that was around him burst into nothingness in the initial stage of his career. He was eventually cut loose from Joe Gibbs Racing, but got his second chance at glory with Team Penske, and he held on to it tight.
What and why Zilisch wants to learn from Logano
Zilisch has signed a multi-year agreement with Trackhouse Racing. Team owner Justin Marks appears fully committed to seeing the youngster prosper at the highest level of the sport.
Despite being a fan of the seven-time Cup Series champion, Jimmie Johnson, it is Logano that Zilisch believes he can learn the most from for this journey, considering their similar trajectories.
He remarked on the Rubbin’ is Racing podcast, “He [Joey Logano] made his Cup Series debut at 18… So, I’m curious to see what his mindset was, the mistakes he made, the things he went through that he wished he hadn’t. But I feel like that’d be cool to kind of hear about and see if I could learn anything from him.”
Icons like Jeff Burton already believe that Zilisch shares a lot of characteristics with Logano. For instance, they are both different people when they get into their cars for a race as opposed to how they normally are. They are far more ruthless, selfish, and carry a razor-sharp attitude when it comes to competition.
