Shane van Gisbergen obliterated the field in almost every NASCAR Cup Series road course race in 2025, but his Trackhouse Racing teammate is looking to challenge him.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. β For being 36th in the NASCAR Cup Series standings after two races, rookie Connor Zilisch is surprisingly upbeat.Β
Zilisch wrecked out of Daytona and Atlanta, ending the day with finishes of 30th and 33rd, respectively. He’s last among chartered teams in the points standings, over 30 points behind the 16th and final chase spot.
But Zilisch knows it’s too early in the year to panic.Β
“When you start the year off with two superspeedways, that kind of stuff is possible,” Zilisch said in a media session on Tuesday. “It’s way too early to be stressing about where you are in points.”
The upcoming race at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) is one where Zilisch will be expected to perform well. He won at the track in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series in 2025 and, despite being a rookie, is highly anticipated to perform well on road courses.Β
At just 19 years old and with five Cup Series starts, Zilisch has the second-best odds to win Sunday’s race in Austin, Texas, according to various betting platforms.
The one driver with better odds than Zilisch is his Trackhouse Racing teammate Shane van Gisbergen. van Gisbergen won five races in 2025, all on road courses. The only road course he didn’t win was COTA, which Christopher Bell won.
“After 10 laps, he’s usually at least a half-second faster than the entirety of the field,” Zilisch said about van Gisbergen. “[He’s] definitely shown all the drivers in the Cup Series what the limit is and how fast these cars can go.”
Zilisch knows what he’s up against in van Gisbergen but is confident heading into the weekend.
“I feel like I have the speed to do it,” Zilisch said. “I just need to be able to run a perfect race to be able to beat him, and I think everybody’s realized how difficult that is.”
Zilisch made his Cup Series debut in 2025 at COTA but wrecked out and finished last. He’s hoping for a better result this time on the 20-turn course.
Even with the added expectations from this weekend, Zilisch is not putting too much pressure on himself.
“I don’t really put the pressure on myself to go out and do what I know I can do,” Zilisch said. “I think that kind of speaks for itself.”
An added bonus for Zilisch will be racing alongside his good friend Jesse Love, who will make a start for Richard Childress Racing in Sunday’s race, adding to his usual O’Reilly Series duties. It’ll be the first time the two have raced in the Cup Series together.
“Hopefully I can beat him and have something against him, cause right now he’s got a championship against me,” Zilisch joked.
The NASCAR Cup Series races at COTA in the DuraMax Grand Prix at 3:30 p.m.