Pole Winner Connor Zilisch Leads Every Lap En Route to Fourth Victory of 2023
Overview:
Date: Sept. 23, 2023
Event: SpeedTour Grand Prix Festival (Round 11 of 13)
Series: Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli
Division: Big Machine Vodka Spiked CoolersTA2 Series
Location: World Wide Technology Raceway near St. Louis
Layout: 1.6-mile, eight-turn road course
Format: 63 laps or 75 minutes
Weather: Sunny, mid-80s
Winner: Connor Zilisch of Silver Hare Racing
Silver Hare Racing:
● Connor Zilisch – Started 1st, Finished 1st (Running, completed 61/61 laps)
Noteworthy:
● Zilisch started on the pole for the third time this season and for the second race in a row. He led all 61 TA2-class laps of the race, which included a separate competition for the larger TA-class competitors in the combined event. It was his fourth win of the season and fourth of his TA2 career. Zilisch’s previous wins came March 26 at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, June 4 on the downtown streets of Detroit, and Aug. 5 in downtown Nashville.
● Zilisch’s lap of 1 minute, .595 of a second earned the 17-year-old the Omalagato Fastest Lap of the Race Award.
Connor Zilisch, Driver, No. 7 Silver Hare Racing Chevrolet Camaro:
“I had a really good car. Silver Hare Racing has worked really hard the last several months to put us in this position to give me this car to go out here and win races. Today’s was a tougher one, for sure. As easy as it might have looked, the first 20 minutes of the race were really, really tough as a driver, just understanding the limit when you’re on slick tires in the rain, driving 20 seconds off the pace. Thank you to Silver Hare Racing for giving me an awesome car. Maurice and Laura Hull, they’ve taken a chance on me and have given me this opportunity to come out here and drive these cars. Thank you to them, and thank you to the entire team, they’ve worked so hard for me. I had a bad-fast Chevy that made my job easy. I’m so thankful to drive these racecars and just hope to finish out the year strong and, hopefully, make a run for the championship.”
Maurice Hull, Co-Owner, Silver Hare Racing:
“This is super sweet. We started on the pole, laid down the fastest lap, led all the laps and won the race. Connor is phenomenal, absolutely phenomenal. We’re so proud of the crew for all of the hard work they’ve done to overcome the adversities we’ve faced and there’s a lot of confidence and momentum moving forward. They’re building good racecars, working very, very hard and getting some good luck. Kudos to the series for coming to a new track that turned out to be better than everybody expected. Now we’re on our way to VIR, which is our home track and one I think is the best track in the United States. It’s certainly one of the most difficult, and it’s proven to have some wonderful racing, so we can’t wait to get there.”
Next Up:
High Point, North Carolina-based Silver Hare Racing heads to its home track for the penultimate round of the 2023 Big Machine Vodka Spiked Coolers TA2 Series calendar, Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Oct. 6-8, for the VIR Gold Cup SpeedTour. The weekend kicks off with a pair of 25-minute TA2 test sessions at noon and 3:25 p.m. EDT Friday, Oct. 6. Official TA2 practice is set for 11:10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 7, followed by qualifying at 5:20 p.m. The 30-lap, 75-minute TA2 race begins at 1:25 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 8, with live television coverage provided by MAVTV, augmented by live-streaming video coverage by the Trans Am Series and SpeedTourTV channels on YouTube.
About Silver Hare Racing:
Silver Hare Racing is a fulltime competitor in the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli’s newly renamed Big Machine Vodka Spiked Coolers TA2 Series. The multicar team has won the TA2 Masters class championship three times (2018, 2019 and 2020) with driver and team co-owner Maurice Hull. Under the leadership of Hull’s wife, co-owner and team manager Laura Hull, Silver Hare Racing provides a variety of services that includes private testing and arrive-and-drive programs. The team offers six professionally built and maintained TA2 chassis from Howe Racing and operates from a state-of-the-art facility in High Point, North Carolina. For more information, visit SilverHareRacing.com.
