Ross Chastain is looking forward to having Connor Zilisch as a full-time teammate with Trackhouse Racing next season in the NASCAR Cup Series.
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The 19-year-old Mooresville, North Carolina native has been one of the biggest topics in NASCAR conversation this season, winning a Xfinity series-high seven races, as well as 13 top-fives and 15 top-10 finishes, as well as another series high of five pole positions.
Zilisch is three points behind his JR Motorsports teammate, Justin Allgaier in the Xfinity Series standings with two more regular season races to go before the playoffs begin. But that partnership with JRM will end at the conclusion of this series as Zilisch moves up to the Cup Series, essentially replacing Daniel Suarez, whose contract was not renewed.
Chastain began an interview with The Athletic’s Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi on The Teardown podcast that included all 16 drivers that qualified for the Cup playoffs, in a humorous manner, essentially ribbing Zilisch for his fall and resulting broken collarbone suffered after winning three weeks ago at Watkins Glen.
“Well, I wanted to make sure that Trackhouse had our insurance policy up to date, health insurance, make sure we’ve got everything, workman’s comp, all up (and) paid,” Chastain quipped. “It’s a walking medical bill. Luckily, he’s still walking.”
Chastain felt sympathy for his future teammate after the incident, but that lasted less than 24 hours. Zilisch suffered his accident on a Saturday afternoon, and Chastain and his team were cracking jokes, good naturedly of course, on Sunday morning prior to the Cup race at The Glen.
“Sunday morning (was when Chastain gave his first one-liner about Zilisch), when I knew he was okay and he was on his way to the track,” Chastain said. “My pit crew on the No. 1 (are) jokesters, to say the least.
“He wasn’t even back to the track yet but he was going to be there, and we saw him on the grid that Sunday, and we had all kinds of jokes flying around. So we waited till Sunday but we only gave it one night.”
Turning serious, Chastain actually marvels at what Zilisch has done this season in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. “Yeah, he’s 19 and it’s not fair (that Zilisch has so much talent),” Chastain said.
“I’ve told him that and I’ve told Justin (Trackhouse team owner Justin Marks) and Mardy (Lindley) is crew chief over at (JR Motorsports) and the group over there. It’s not fair what he’s able to do and how he’s able to deal with all this.”
Chastain then turned philosophical a bit adding, “I do still believe the old saying I heard a long time ago: there’s no further walk on this earth than walking from the Xfinity to the Cup garage. I think that still rings true.”
Chastain went through some of what Zilisch has early in his career
In a sense, Chastain can relate to Zilisch. Although Chastain admittedly did not have the talent or early success in his own career in both Trucks and Xfinity before moving to Cup that Zilisch has had this season.
Because the jump from Xfinity to Cup has often turned great Xfinity drivers into poor Cup drivers, at least at the start, Chastain believes Trackhouse Racing has to be very protective of their very special young driver.
And that also includes Chastain, the veteran of the team by experience (he’ll be 33 in December, but Shane van Gisbergen is the eldest member of the three-driver team at 36), will have to serve as somewhat of a mentor for Zilisch.
“So Trackhouse, like they have to insulate him and put him in a position to succeed,” Chastain said. “He can go fast, but surrounding him with the right people, helping him make all the right decisions on the track and off are important because there’s a lot of opportunity being in the Cup Series, as I’ve learned.
“There’s also a lot of responsibility. This is the big time and it is a big deal to be here.”
