“We want to eliminate distractions”: Trackhouse Racing’s boss sends crystal clear message for Connor Zilisch’s future in NASCAR Cup Series

The young, promising NASCAR driver Connor Zilisch had made his Cup Series debut at Circuit of the Americas last weekend behind the wheel of #87 for Trackhouse Racing with sponsorship from Red Bull. His Trackhouse boss, Justin Marks, discussed his potential future Cup starts in the 2025 season. Zilisch is signed as a development driver with the organization as of 2025.

Connor Zilisch’s Cup debut didn’t go the way he thought. His COTA outing ended early with a heartbreaking DNF result when his teammate Daniel Suarez spun into his path on Lap 50 and eliminated both. The 18-year-old is competing full-time in the Xfinity Series, driving the #88 Chevrolet for Dale Earnhardt Jr.-co-owned JR Motorsports.

Speaking to SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, Justin Marks explained Trackhouse’s approach to balancing Connor Zilisch’s development in the Cup Series while keeping him focused on his first Xfinity Series championship pursuit. However, Marks admitted that he wants to give him a seat time in a Cup car, but they are being strategic about it to avoid distractions while focusing on one series at a time.

Marks said:

“We certainly want to give him as much opportunity as possible to get time in the cup car, but it's also a little bit of balance for a couple of reasons. One is we want him to stay focused on trying to win this Xfinity Series Championship.

“This is a guy that has raced so many different types of cars and different types of races over the last couple of years and hasn't really had an opportunity to be singularly focused on one championship run like he does this year, so we want to eliminate distractions and just make sure that he's in a position where he can focus on that.”

After making waves in various racing disciplines, the 18-year-old Charlotte, North Carolina, native showed impressive performance in NASCAR, earning his second career win at COTA last week in just seven Xfinity starts.

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Justin Marks shed light on challenges behind giving Connor Zilisch more seat time this season

Trackhouse Racing owner further explained the logistical and strategic challenges of getting Zilisch more Cup Series starts while managing the team’s workload.

The organization fields three full-time entries and fields four cars regularly, requiring significant effort, which they've done twice in three races. Helio Castroneves competed at Daytona while Zilisch was at COTA.

On Connor Zilisch’s future in the Cup Series, Marks said:

“The other thing is it's hard for us to field four cars, it's a big effort, we've done it twice already in the first three races of the season, it's a lot of work as a shop, we're not set up as a four car team, so that's a balance too, and then obviously with the Red Bull component, they love Conor, they want him in the cup car, it's a discussion that happens inside the shop from a workflow standpoint, it's a discussion that happens with Red Bull, the sponsor on the race car, they're just kind of solving for all that.”

Marks believes that Connor Zilisch’s future lies in NASCAR Cup Series, so gaining experience in the series will be valuable for him.