DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Trackhouse Racing announced Saturday that Connor Zilisch will drive full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2026, the latest move in his rapid rise up the stock-car racing ladder.
Zilisch replaces Daniel Suárez, who will leave Trackhouse at year‘s end after five seasons driving the team‘s No. 99 Chevrolet. The organization and driver announced July 1 that they had mutually reached an agreement to part company, creating a high-profile vacancy in Trackhouse‘s three-car fleet alongside Cup teammates Ross Chastain and Shane van Gisbergen.
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Zilisch appears poised to fill that void ever since signing with Trackhouse as part of the organization‘s driver development program in January 2024. Since then, the 19-year-old phenom has won eight times in 27 starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series while driving for JR Motorsports. That stretch includes wins in five of the last six races, highlighted by Zilisch‘s triumph at Indianapolis Motor Speedway to seal JRM‘s 100th victory and capped by Friday‘s victory at Daytona International Speedway with Parker Kligerman driving in relief.
Though the news had been widely reported for weeks, Zilisch grew emotional when presented with the magnitude of the moment, with his family joining him in the Daytona media center.
“It’s cool. I knew the whole world knew already, but still to be able to say it and have my name next to the word ‘Cup Series’ is really cool,” Zilisch said. “So, I wasn’t going to try and hide from it, but it’s just a day that I’ve been dreaming of for a long time and I’m not going to let that kind of the idea that everybody already knows take away from the moment.”
Team founder Justin Marks indicated that Zilisch’s car number, crew chief and crew lineup would be announced in the coming week, but noted that Red Bell and WeatherTech would continue to be anchor partners with his program. Zilisch has used No. 87 in his three Cup Series starts this season with Trackhouse.
Zilisch ranks second in the Xfinity Series standings, just three points behind JRM teammate Justin Allgaier as the battle for the Regular Season Championship heads to its final two races. Zilisch is on the mend from a broken collarbone, suffered in a hard fall in Victory Lane after winning Watkins Glen two weeks ago. He started Friday night‘s Xfinity event, yielding to Kligerman in a Lap 13 caution period.
Zilisch has excelled at each turn of his racing career, from karting to Mazda MX-5 and Trans-Am competition. His first appearance in IMSA‘s Rolex 24 at Daytona endurance race yielded a victory in the LMP2 class.
The teenager‘s move into stock cars also brought success, with wins in CARS Tour late models and the ARCA Menards Series before he reached the NASCAR national-series ranks last year. Zilisch participated in partial Xfinity and Craftsman Truck series schedules in 2024, winning poles on both circuits and rolling to victory in his Xfinity debut at Watkins Glen International last September.
Marks has called Zilisch a “rare talent,” noting how quickly the teenager has been able to adapt to different motorsports disciplines. He also lauded his potential to be a multi-time champion at the sport’s highest level.
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“I think it’s what everybody sees. It’s the level of maturity, the approach, the ability to deliver in big moments,” Marks said. “When I get asked, which is sort of weird, but I get asked sometimes by young people, ‘What can I do to get noticed or to get an opportunity in racing?’ And I tell them it’s just you have to just win. You have to just have the ability to get it done when you got a fast race car and when you have a winning opportunity you’ve got to be able to close the deal. Connor’s done it. Just every car he’s gotten in, he’s figured out a way to win.
“I think another one is the rate of adaptability. This sport won’t wait on somebody to figure things out. It’s such a fast-paced sport. You have to be able to get in a car, understand it right away, find its limits right away, and go deliver right away.”
Zilisch‘s road-racing background has provided him with an edge in his wins at The Glen, Circuit of The Americas and Sonoma Raceway, but he has also been a quick study while performing on ovals, prevailing at Pocono, Dover and Indy consecutively. JR Motorsports co-owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. said after his Brickyard triumph that Zilisch has the potential for “incredible, Hall of Fame-worthy things” in his career, hinting that a Cup Series move was imminent. He also said he‘s buying into the ever-building buzz around Zilisch, comparing his prodigious rise to that of some of the sport‘s all-time greats.
“I mean, the only thing I think it‘s close to is probably Jeff Gordon or Jimmie Johnson,” Earnhardt said, making a nod toward his former teammates — both multiple-time Cup Series champions. “So he might be even more of a comet … he might be even more rare than that, because I don‘t know, man, if you all get a chance to spend time around him, you‘ll realize how mature he is, and I think there‘s probably a lot of parents in the room that would be amazed at his level of maturity.”
Zilisch’s beyond-his-years composure will be tested in NASCAR’s top division next season, when his first full Cup Series campaign starts here in the Daytona 500 on Feb. 15. His first effort in the “Great American Race” will provide a “welcome to the show” moment, but Zilisch says the journey to saying he’s made it in the sport is just beginning.
“I still haven’t made it to where I want to be, right? This is the start,” Zilisch said. “I wanted to get to this point and give myself the opportunity to win championships at the highest level, but I wouldn’t say I’ve made it. But I’ve made it farther than a lot. So, that’s something to be proud of. And, yeah, it’s going to be grueling. The Cup Series is no joke, and that jump from Saturday to Sunday is bigger than probably any other sport in our country. So yeah, I’m excited for the challenge and looking forward to just going out and learning and every Sunday giving my best effort and seeing where I stack up.”