Connor Zilisch may be just 18, but he’s already turning heads across every rung of NASCAR’s ladder. With multiple ARCA wins under his belt, four Xfinity Series victories to his name within two years, and a growing presence in the Cup garage, the rising star has quickly become one of the most sought-after young talents in the paddock. While Trackhouse Racing could hand him the reins of Daniel Suarez’s ride next season, there’s now a whisper in the wind that Zilisch could take a sharp turn off the oval path and set his sights on Formula One.
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In a recent sit-down with Corey LaJoie and Skip Flores on the Stacking Pennies podcast, Zilisch pulled back the curtain on a lifelong dream. “Growing up, that was my dream. I wanted to race F1,” he said, tracing the roots of that ambition back to his childhood days in Europe, where he did some go-kart racing. Despite not having the right opportunities at the time, the fire never went out.
With the new Cadillac team on the F1 horizon and connections forming with Red Bull, the door to the global stage no longer seems bolted shut. “I’d say the chances aren’t zero,” Zilisch admitted. But even with the stars starting to align, he knows the road to F1 is no walk in the park.
To qualify for a super license, Zilisch will need to slog through a lower-tier series like F3 and various points-chasing events in places like the Middle East. That grind is no small commitment. Zilisch clarified that he wants solid footing in NASCAR before making the leap.
“I’d want to make a name for myself here and be settled in before I took the chance to go and do it. But I would love to take that chance if maybe things aren’t going the way I want here. It’s definitely in the back of my mind,” Zilisch explained, adding that if things don’t pan out stateside, the F1 dream still stays alive.
He also shared that he’s previously gone wheel-to-wheel with some of Europe’s finest young prospects, including Andrea Kimi Antonelli (F1 rookie this year for Mercedes) and Arvid Lindblad (F2 driver as part of the Red Bull Junior Team).
While confident in his road course chops, he acknowledged that F1 is a different beast altogether. “Everything changes when you go to Europe,” he said, citing cultural and language hurdles as part of the adjustment angle. Still, the idea of taking that plunge hasn’t left him.
