Conor Zilisch’s NASCAR plans laid out by Justin | Sports News

Justin Marks has stated that he will look to give Connor Zilisch a number of opportunity in the NASCAR Cup Series this season, but also wants him to focus on the Xfinity Series.

The owner of Trackhouse Racing believes Zilisch can win a championship in the Xfinity Series, the second-tier circuit of NASCAR below the Cup Series, while also wanting him to gain experience in the latter. 

The 18-year-old talent made his Cup Series debut this past weekend which ended in disappointment, as he crashed out after colliding with his teammate in Daniel Suarez.

Zilisch had won in the Xfinity Series at the weekend before then qualifying for the Cup Series race, he had impressive moments in the race before crashing into Suarez’ right side and sending him into the wall with his vehicle bursting into flames.

Trackhouse Racing owner 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 reasons.

“One, we want him to stay focused on trying to win the Xfinity Series championship, and this is a guy that’s raced so many different types of cars and different types of races 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 kind of eliminate distractions. And make sure he’s in a position where he can focus on that.

“The other thing is it’s hard for us to field four cars. I mean, it’s a big effort. We’ve done it twice already in the first three races of the season and it’s a lot of work in the shop. We’re not set up as a four-car team.

“That’s the balance too and then obviously with the Red Bull component. They love Connor, they want to see 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 and just kind of solving all that.”

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Despite the disappointing end, Zilisch felt he’d benefitted from his Cup Series debut, telling reporters that he’d gained invaluable experience.

He said: “[I got to experience] Just how to race against veterans. You know, these guys all are very calculated and smart with the things they’re doing and I had a lot of fun getting to kind of experience that and learn from a lot of those guys. So, definitely a lot to take away from it but frustrated that it ended this early.”