NASCAR’s next big thing makes feelings clear on | Sports News

Jeff Gordon comparisons in NASCAR aren’t handed out frivolously. They often include drivers who share a related historical past and weight-shifting expertise to maneuver motorsports up the rungs of recognition in America.

Regarding the long run, the expectation borders on the not possible. NASCAR Cup Series rookie Connor Zilisch is aware of that higher than anybody after fixed comparisons.

The 19-year-old Trackhouse Racing rookie begins his first full Cup Series season within the No. 88 Red Bull Chevrolet and has already been labeled the game’s “next big thing.” Some have gone additional, invoking Gordon’s title earlier than Zilisch has even accomplished a entire Cup marketing campaign.

His response to the comparisons was a snicker and a fast actuality test for NASCAR followers: few names within the historical past of the sports activities may very well be talked about in the identical breath as the motive force of the well-known No. 24 DuPont Chevy for Hendrick Motorsports.

“(Laughs) Yeah, it’s hard to comprehend,” Zilisch mentioned when requested in regards to the comparisons. “I don’t know why yet, right? I’ve run, obviously, a lot of races in the lower levels. But to be compared to Jeff Gordon, I feel like you’ve got to do something at this level, and I’ve yet to do that.”

Zilisch did not dismiss the reward, but additionally did not absolutely embrace the comparability. He acknowledged that Gordon’s title signifies more than simply early achievement, and it symbolizes ongoing dominance with the backing of a main Cup Series crew. 

“That starts this year,” Zilisch continued. “I’m hoping to make a name for myself. It’s certainly going to take time to get to the level of a guy like him.”

Gordon is a four-time Cup Series champion and has earned 93 wins, making him third on the all-time checklist. His championships got here in 1995, 1997, 1998, and 2001. He additionally gained three Daytona 500 races and completed his profession with 805 begins and 81 poles. 

While Gordon’s 13-win season in 1998 is taken into account one of essentially the most dominant in fashionable racing, Zilisch’s profession has solely begun. The former full-time JR Motorsports driver ended the 2025 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series in second place after a dominant season that featured 10 wins and a record-breaking 18 straight top-five finishes.

Now, he begins 2026 as a full-time Cup rookie alongside teammates Ross Chastain and Shane van Gisbergen. His initial outcomes embody an 18th-place end in his Clash debut at Bowman Gray and a Fifteenth-place end within the America 250 Duel at Daytona.