NASCAR star Connor Zilisch eager to ‘make dream come true’ ahead of Cup Series debut: “Let’s make some history” 

NASCAR driver Connor Zilisch is set to make his NASCAR Cup Series debut at Circuit of The Americas (COTA) on Sunday. He claimed his second Xfinity win at the Austin, Texas road course on Saturday, March 1.

Zilisch, who drives full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for JR Motorsports, won the Focused Health 250, Xfinity race at COTA after starting from the pole position on Saturday. The 18-year-old will now drive the No. 87 Chevrolet for Trackhouse Racing with Red Bull as his sponsor. Zilisch shared his excitement for the day and wrote on X:

"Making a dream come true today. No matter the result, I’m so grateful for @redbull and @TeamTrackhouse. Let’s make some history👊🏼"

Zilisch won his very first NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Watkins Glen last year and set a qualifying record on his Truck Series debut at COTA.

Zilisch also joined Trackhouse Racing, co-owned by Justin Marks, for the Rolex 24 at Daytona in January this year. He wil begin the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix from the 14th position with three Trackhouse teammates. The team fields full-time Cup cars for Ross Chastain (No. 1), Daniel Suárez (No. 99) and Shane van Gisbergen (No. 88).

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"That was way harder than I wanted it to be" - Connor Zilisch after second NASCAR Xfinity win

Connor Zilisch won his second Xfinity Series race at Circuit of the Americas after a mid-race penalty, where he had to restart from the back. Zilisch led 26 laps and finished 1.639 seconds ahead of William Byron. His win was a big comeback after two rough races earlier in the season, he placed 27th and 34th at Daytona and Atlanta, respectively.

"That was tough. That was way harder than I wanted it to be. I did not drive a clean race at all. Sorry to everyone that I hit. I was just kind of mentally fogged halfway through that race. Glad we were able to fight back," Connor Zilisch said (via motorsport.com).

Zilisch ran into trouble when a caution closed pit road just as he entered but he caught up and battled JR Motorsports teammate Carson Kvapil. He also made contact with Corey Heim but kept pushing forward and passed Kvapil for the lead with eight laps to go.

"I've already texted three people that I feel like I did wrong. That penalty hindered us and got my head spinning a little bit and put us in a bit of a bad spot, but to come back from that was really good. I just have to stay calmer from now on," Connor Zilisch said.

The NASCAR Cup Series's EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix is sheduled to begin at 2:30 pm CT on Sunday, March 2. 23XI Racing's Tyler Reddick will start the race from the pole with teammate Bubba Wallace.