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Here’s the thing about Connor Zilisch

Connor Zilisch is not ready for NASCAR Cup Series racing.

Oh, that got your attention, right? Well, now we can discuss. 

Zilisch, of course, is ready to be promoted to the Cup Series, and is expected to be by Trackhouse Racing for 2026. He is next in line to be given an opportunity at NASCAR’s premier level as the organization is ending its relationship with Daniel Suarez at season’s end. Trackhouse Racing signed Zilisch to a development deal before the start of the 2024 season, and no one should be surprised by his rapid rise.

But that doesn’t change the fact that Zilisch is not ready for Cup Series racing in the sense that no driver is prepared for Cup Series racing. The competition is tougher, and that’s because the depth of the field is much deeper, and it’s as much a fight in the middle of the field as it is for a win. There is also no comparison between the Xfinity Series car and the NASCAR Cup Series car.

And, last but certainly not least, the easiest way to sum up the above is that the jump from Xfinity Series racing to Cup Series racing is steep. Zilisch knows that, and he’s going to be reminded of it every week in 2026 as he learns to lose.

“It’s going to take time,” said Zilisch of the Cup Series. “The car is a lot different. It’s very on edge. There is not a lot of room for error. I’m probably going to make mistakes and have moments, and there are going to be bad days. But as long as I continue to see myself grow, I’ll be satisfied. So it’s going to be a process no matter how you look at it.”

Zilisch is a phenomenon and has proven worthy of getting a ride. Any setbacks he encounters on the Cup Series learning curve will not be an asterisk against his talent.

Zilisch has been doing plenty of winning in the Xfinity Series, but the massive leap to the Cup Series will require him to reset his expectations while he’s learning. Justin Casterline/Getty Images

“I had people tell me (about how big a jump it is to the Cup Series),” Zilisch said. “I’m friends with Zane [Smith] and Noah [Gragson] and all them, and they told me, ‘Dude, just wait until you’re fighting for a lucky dog or just wait until you’re 25th and you’re cheering that you finish top 20.’ You don’t understand until you get there.

“Every guy in the Cup Series was a champion or a winner or was dominating at certain points of their career, and you get to the Cup Series, and nobody dominates. There is no guy who’s clear ahead of the field. It’s just different, and it’s tough to understand. It sucks losing, but you learn how to lose. I’m enjoying my time on Saturday while I can. Winning races is fun, but I’m trying to learn as much as I can, so when that day comes that I make the jump to Sundays, I’m ready for it.”

Trackhouse Racing has taken the right approach with Zilisch, and did the same thing with Shane van Gisbergen last year. A year in the Xfinity Series provides valuable seat time and the chance to hone the race craft needed in NASCAR stock car racing. Along the way, the success (van Gisbergen won three times in 2024 and Zilisch claimed his fifth victory Saturday at Indianapolis) helps build confidence.

 

Van Gisbergen, now a Cup Series rookie, has three wins and a spot in the postseason. He is doing what he should be doing by capitalizing at the racetracks that suit his style while learning elsewhere. Zilisch is on the same path and will be expected to perform as well as he can on the road and street courses while getting his feet underneath him on the ovals.

So, while Zilisch is not ready for what is ahead, there is nothing to be gained by keeping him in a different series. Zilisch is not a future star in NASCAR; he already is one. However, he has a long future ahead of him, and it might as well start sooner rather than later. 

“I guess,” said Dale Earnhardt Jr. when asked if Zilisch was ready for the Cup Series. “I sure would love to have him one more year, but I don’t know with how different the Xfinity car is versus the Cup car – you can learn some race craft and some judgment decision-making in any car, right? The Truck Series or the Xfinity Series. But he’s got to get behind the wheel of that Next Gen car to really understand what it does differently because it drives differently, feels differently, independent rear suspension, how the air gets to the back of the diffuser. It’s the only NASCAR stock car with a diffuser on it. So, he needs to understand how all that works, and the only way to do it is to get behind the wheel.

 

“It’s probably too expensive to dilly dally and run him in 10 or 15 (Cup Series) races a year for a while to get his feet wet. You might as well jump right on in there. So, I understand the process… but I think we can all see the writing on the wall, and honestly, I think that kid has potential to do incredible, Hall of Fame-worthy things.”

It’s time to jump in the deep end of the pool, and Zilisch is either going to sink or swim. Fortunately, he’s likely going to be given a long runway by Justin Marks. Marks is playing to the strength of his driver roster and the NASCAR schedule, and there is no reason to believe his comments about van Gisbergen, in which he said the New Zealander can win races on road and street courses while figuring out the ovals to become a complete NASCAR driver, would not also apply to Zilisch.

NASCAR has six road and street courses on its 2025 schedule. It would be naïve to think the schedule will continue to look that way, given NASCAR’s openness to new venues and facilities, but for now, Marks has the right approach.

No, Zilisch is not ready for Cup Series racing. No driver ever is, and they never will be. But as that famous slogan goes, just do it.