If you’re a fan of American motorsports, the name Connor Zilisch has probably come across your radar at some point. But who is this young up-and-comer, and how did he ascend from a relative unknown to a highly touted development driver–and in just the last few years?
Connor started his…
I had the chance to visit with Connor at the airport following the Rolex 24 in Daytona. Beyond being wildly talented he is a super nice young man.
Also present was Shane Van Gisbergen. Listening to them visit would make you think the two of them were the same age. Connor speaks with maturity beyond his years.
He is absolutely the next phenom to hit Nascar and I predict he's in a Cup car within a few years. What I'm curious about is whether he chooses to stay.
Also had a chance to talk to him at the Rolex. The kid, only because of his age, is the best racer to come from the US in a very long time and maybe forever. His father did him a favor by not letting him get burned out by the European grind although I wish he stayed on the sports car path. He was the fastest in the Trackhouse Corvette at the Rolex with McLaughlin, Van Ginsberg, and Keating also in the car. He should be a F1 prospect. Won't be long before Indycar brings him in for a test
This kid is really good for his age and it looks very likely that he would have a great racing career.
Eager as well to see where his career goes. NASCAR Cup? Factory IMSA? Open-wheel? He’s just 18....
KrankyKoot said:His father did him a favor by not letting him get burned out by the European grind although I wish he stayed on the sports car path.
Yeah I kind of feel the same way but I also get that if you're going to make a living being an American racer and you aren't already filthy rich you have to specialize in the disciplines that get the most juice.
Still, I'd love to see the kid get a factory gig with Porsche/BMW/AMG where they'd ship him overseas a bit. It would be rad to have an American racer—especially one that came out of MX-5 Cup—competing at the pointy end of WEC and ELMS and at some of the bigtime 24s in the EU and Asia.
Loweguy5 said:and I predict he's in a Cup car within a few years.
He's in one on Sunday at COTA.
I listened to him a year or so ago on one of the Dirty Mo podcasts. DBC, maybe. Might have been the Jr Download. He seemed like he hadn't really aimed at Nascar, but when he got the chance to drive some ARCA, I think, and kicked everyone's asses, well that probably opened some eyes.
Anyway, I think he will go wherever he wants to... He is on the fast track to a full time Cup ride, surely. If it were me, and I was young, and talented, and well supported, I'd do a Kyle Larson situation. Run Cup for the dough, run whatever the hell else I wanted to as a side hustle.
Is F1 worth the stress of getting a top tier ride?
Is Indycar going to re-evolve into a proper series again, now that it has some proper TV coverage?
Can you make a living driving sports cars?
Seeing Connor go from the back of the field to the front of the field during the two Trans Am street races (Detroit and Nashville) was impressive. That's no easy feat. And he did it twice. Amazing.
Streetwiseguy said:Is F1 worth the stress of getting a top tier ride?
Yes, but no. 
In all honesty, I'd love to see more American drivers on the grid, especially now that we'll have two American teams competing in within the next few years.
I think it's just really difficult for American drivers to break into F1 because it's so European-focused.
I mean, I get it, it's primarily a European sport, but I'm still going to complain the whole time.
I'd love to see Indycar become an equal to F1, and not as some kind of feeder series.
AT ANY RATE,
It sounds like I'll need to wear some sunglasses because Connor's future is looking bright. 
It will be interesting to see how Connor does at COTA this weekend in the Cup Series. The Cup drivers have become good road racers, unlike decades past, but Connor does have a good team (Trackhouse Racing) with a good crew chief (Darian Grubb). Looking forward to watching.
Knock on wood, but he seems to be one of the better drivers at COTA. Multiple poles and wins there.
Connor has the potential to be a champion in multiple top level series. IMSA, Indy, nascar...kid has endless potential. I wish I had half or even a a quarter of the talent he does.
Even with a number of mistakes today, he still ended up putting a whipping on the XFinity field today. Impressive.
Connor's dad did it the right way. He went out and found competition for his son, and it's made him one hell of a driver.
Streetwiseguy said:Can you make a living driving sports cars?
Yes, a very good one.
Robbie Foley's dad and I go way back. The kid is making bank.
The only question is how long you can make that -- with few exceptions, it's a young man's game
I've never seen anybody be as immediately fast as Zilisch. I've also never seen anyone so fast be so mistake prone. Pretty much every time I've seen him race he's had to come from the back because of something he messed up.
In his first Nascar truck race he was on the pole by a wide margin. In Turn 1, lap 1 he out braked himself by like 10 car (truck?) lengths and went all the way to the back. He has a pit road penalty (or 2?) later and only got back to 4th.
In the COTA Xfinity race he was in control until he got a pit road penalty and went to the back. On his way back through the field he ran into several drivers and caused significant damage to his car. He was very lucky to win the race (I thought for sure the damage would cut a tire) and he said he had to text apologies to multiple drivers before starting his press conference.
In the Cup race yesterday he was all gas and no brakes when he approached his spinning teammate and destroyed both cars. Not his fault, per say, but seemed like a spot where slowing down and giving up a few positions to make sure you can get by the wreck would have been prudent.
He's super impressive but still needs to learn to stay in control for the whole race.
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