NASCAR CUP SERIES
CIRCUIT OF THE AMERICAS
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES
FEBRUARY 28, 2025
Connor Zilisch, driver of the No. 87 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet and the No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, met with the media onsite at Circuit of The Americas to preview his doubleheader race weekend and his first career NASCAR Cup Series start in Sunday’s EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix.
Media Availability Quotes:
Connor, you made your first NASCAR National Series start here at COTA in the Truck Series, where you won the pole and ultimately posted a top-five. Now you’re back, this time in the Xfinity Series, and we know you’ve had success on road courses after winning your debut in the series up at Watkins Glen. So, can you kind of talk to us about your feelings or perhaps excitement heading into this weekend?
“Yeah, it’s going to be a really cool weekend for me, getting to make my Cup Series debut with Red Bull back in NASCAR. Yeah, I’m really excited to see what, you know, Sunday is all about and learn from all the guys who are so seasoned and professional. There’s a lot of cool guys that I’m getting to race against and learn from this weekend. So, excited for that and excited to hopefully, you know, have a really good run in the Xfinity car and maybe lock ourselves into the playoffs in our Weather Tech Chevrolet.”
How much are you looking to gain respect from the veterans out there and show them that — hey, you know, I’m an accomplished racer. I can walk the track and you don’t have to worry about beating someone out there?
“Yeah, it’s really important to gain respect from those guys, you know, as early as possible. You don’t want to go out and make a fool of yourself because once you lose respect of all the veterans, it’s really tough to get it back. So, you definitely want to race them the right way at first and, you know, show them that you’re going to race them with respect. I think if you do that, they’ll give it back to you.
So, that’s definitely the plan. I’ll try and stick by it as best I can. But it can be tough for us sometimes, you know, with pressure and just everything involved. It’s a lot tougher than people realize, but obviously the goal is to show those guys that I’m here to show them respect and, you know, not step outside my boundaries.”
It doesn’t seem like you’re too nervous.. maybe you’re hiding it well. But is it part of that that you didn’t grow up with this being the goal? Like, does it help that it wasn’t some lifelong quest and you’re finally here and what you’re feeling is in the moment? Is that playing into that at all.. why are you approaching this in sort of like a more excited, it’s as cool as just riding down the highway?
“I wouldn’t say that’s necessarily why, but the biggest thing for me is to just not let any moment be too big. You know, it’s important to kind of just treat every race the same, whether it’s, you know, a Cup Series race or whether it’s a local late model race, right? You want to prepare. Maybe you’re going to do more to prepare yourself for a race like this and do more to make sure that you’re ready to show up and race on Sunday. But I feel like, for me, I try and just treat every race the same. It’s easy to get in your own head when you’re thinking — oh my gosh, this is such a big stage, this is crazy.
You know, it’s better to just kind of treat it like another race, and I think that’s what works best for me. I think it’s different for everybody, but it’s easy for me to get in my own head if I try to tell myself — oh my gosh, this moment’s so big. I’ll tend to make more mistakes if I do that.”
So how do you shove it out? Like, when that stuff starts to creep in, how are you like — nah, I’m not going to go there?
“Man, it’s so internally, you know, it’s something that you just kind of have to do yourself, right? You can’t let outside noise affect the way you prepare; the way you compete and the way you think. It’s just kind of got to be the way you are, right? You got to show up to the track and understand that there’s going to be a lot of noise around you, and there’s going to be a lot of lights, and you know, it’s going to be a big stage. But you kind of just got to let it, you know, not get to you and not affect you. Just treat it like any other race.”
You’ve had a lot thrown at you over the last year. Now, you’re 18 years old and about to make your Cup Series debut. So how do you handle all of this, I guess, I don’t know if it’s PR pressure or career pressure or racing pressure, but how do you handle all that and sit here so cool, calm and collective like — I’m just ready to go to another race because this isn’t just another race, this is the Cup Series..
“Yeah, no, I mean, it is crazy, right? There’s been obviously moments where I’ve kind of let the best, you know, let me get the best of myself and think — oh my gosh, this is pretty crazy. But, you know, if you get too excited in the moment and you hype yourself up too much, that’s when nerves start to become a thing, and I’m really bad with nerves. Like, when I’m nervous and, you know, I’m amped up, I just don’t perform. I struggle. So the best thing for me to do is just, you know, act like this is just any other race. And I think one thing that helps me is I feel like I’ve competed in a lot of big races already. I’ve had a lot of big moments. You know, I remember for my Truck Series debut, it was tough for me, right? I had all the nerves get to me and made way too many mistakes. And then I went to the Xfinity debut and just kind of went out there and, you know, did what I do to do, and it worked out well for me. So I’m kind of coming into this weekend with the same attitude and, you know, just going to go out there and run the best race that I know I can run, and whatever result comes is what happens.”
Has anyone helped you with that?
“Yeah, Josh Wise would have to be my biggest mentor. You know, I go to him for anything.. whether it be, you know, relationship advice or how to drive through a corner, right? It’s good to have someone like that at my age, who I can go to and can always give me a non-biased answer no matter what it’s about. So I definitely am fortunate to have not only Josh, but a lot of people in my corner who are willing to give me those, you know, non-biased answers, whether it’s what I want to hear or what it’s not what I want to hear.”
What are your expectations going into Sunday?
“Yeah, it’s hard to set expectations when you haven’t done it before, right? The car is new. I’m racing against probably 25 drivers I’ve never raced against before. Yeah, there’s a lot of variables that I just don’t know. So for me, setting expectations is really tough, right? I don’t want to set a goal of, you know, I want to go out and finish top-five, and then I get a speeding penalty or, you know, my pit crew has a loose tire and I finish 15th because of something out of my doing, right? Because then I’ll be upset, you know, that I didn’t meet my goal.
But for me, my expectation is I expect to be, you know, reasonably fast. I expect there to be — I don’t want to say that I’m going to be really fast, but I do expect to not be way off on speed. But the biggest thing is going to be execution on Sunday and making the most of the race and not making mistakes. You know, if the pit road speed is 50, expect me to be doing 48, right? I’m not going to be pushing the limit. You know, I just want to take it easy and make sure I run all the laps and don’t get a penalty. That’s going to be the biggest thing when it comes to the race. But I feel like when it comes to speed, I feel confident in myself that I’ll be able to run fast enough laps to be at the front.”
How important is your mentality for the Xfinity Series race, knowing you’ve had DNF’s the last two weeks?
“Yeah, it’s really important. It’s been a tough year so far and it’s important to get the momentum kind of swinging back in the right direction, and there’s no better place to do it than a road course for me. So, yeah, it’s crucial this weekend to have a mistake-free weekend; execute all day and hopefully have at least a good enough run to get us moving in the right direction in the point standings. And if we could lock ourselves in, even better.
But, yeah, it’s been a frustrating year to this point. But at the end of the day, it’s a 33-weekend schedule, so I’m not really worried yet. But, you know, a few more of those DNFs and you start to worry.”
How much have you prepared for this weekend?
“Yeah, that’s something that — you know, this answer might be surprising, but I try not to overdo it, right? I don’t want to confuse myself. I don’t want to overthink it. I don’t want to, you know, go in and study so much that I drown myself in this. You know, I feel like I have a good baseline off of what I learned in the Truck race last year here. The Cup car in the sim.. I’ve done quite a bit. You know, I’ve probably done 10 hours.. eight to 10 hours in the last three weeks of that. So, you know, I feel like I’m prepared. And I’ve gone back and watched the race. I’ve watched some in-car footage, and, you know, done the basic stuff. But for me, I don’t want to drown myself in past races because, you know, maybe something’s different this year, right? Maybe we show up and the asphalt is crazy more grippy. I don’t want to overconsume myself with information and overload myself, and then, you know, show up for practice and it’s way different and I’m freaking myself out. So, I kind of give myself a guideline of, you know, a checklist for practice. A checklist for the race.. things that I want to achieve and things I want to do. But I don’t overload myself with information prior to the event because you never know what could change.”
I’m just wondering, if you find yourself late in the stages near the front, do you think the veteran drivers around you are looking for ways to exploit, say, your inexperience, or just the fact that, you know, you may not have been able to move forward and they’ll be looking for ways to get in your head?
“Yeah, I mean, when it comes to the race, I definitely think they’re going to try and exploit my inexperience, you know, no doubt. But I do think that that’s going to be part of being a rookie, right? They are going to expect me to make mistakes. So, they’re going to try and force the mistakes, and that’s one thing that I’ve definitely focused on is not allowing that to happen, right? Don’t let people force mistakes and don’t let them make me do things I don’t want to do. You know, if I go out and do what I know to do and treat it like there’s a short track racer behind me that I’ve raced at Hickory Motor Speedway and, you know, not Kyle Busch or Kyle Larson, then it’ll probably help me. So, yeah, just like I said, I’m going to try and treat this like any other race. And, you know, I feel like I’ve not been exploited on these road courses to this point. It’s different on ovals, but, you know, I feel like I have a good feeling of what I need to do come Sunday.”
Is it overstating to say that whoever is figuring out 6A, 6B, or whatever they’re calling it, is going to be in the driver’s seat for this race? I mean, is it just that important, those two turns, or is it just another part of the course that they’re going to figure out?
“Yeah, I mean, it’s definitely going to be important. The guy who wins the race has got to be good everywhere. I don’t think it’s going to be the case of they’re going to be really good in 6A, 6B and give it up the rest of the track. I feel like it’s going to be just like any other road course we go to. You know, you’re going to have to figure it out quickly, and you’re going to have to be good everywhere to win especially come Sunday. It’s tough to win these races and you’ve got to be really fast everywhere. And I think it’s going to be important to understand how restarts will work there. 6A is really wide on entry, so, you know, expect a lot of chaos there. And the exit’s really tight, as well. So, I’m curious to see what the race is like. I’m glad I get Saturday to kind of get a feel for it and understand what that is like. But, yeah, come Sunday, I mean, it’s going to be whoever’s the best and makes the least amount of mistakes.”
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