Connor Zilisch, who pilots the No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet entry, was looking to have a solid result in his NASCAR Cup Series debut on Sunday.
The 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway has not been kind to Zilisch in the past when racing in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series.
In his first start at the track, which came in the fall of 2024, for Spire Motorsports. Zilisch started 12th but finished in the 33rd position due to a crash.
Just a few months later, in the O’Reilly Series Spring race, Zilisch qualified in the 13th position and was up front at times while leading nine laps.
With two laps remaining in the spring event, an incident involving Jesse Love sent Zilisch spinning into a wreck. He then hit the backstretch wall, resulting in a DNF and a 27th-place finish.
The same was true of the fall race. Zilisch started seventh but had a disappointing finish of 23rd, three laps down.
Fast forwarding to 2026, when Zilisch was making his first Talladega Cup Series start, the 19-year-old had hopes of a positive result. This was especially true after finishing 29th, two laps down, following handling issues the week before at Kansas Speedway.
“It’s still going to be a lot of fuel saving, but I think the last 45 laps will be better,” Zilisch said in a team release on race week. “Track position is huge with the Next Gen car. You’ve got to do everything you can to put yourself in position at the end.
“Nobody’s down on themselves. We’re hungry. I want to be part of our return to success, and that challenge excites me.”
Rain showers canceled the Cup Series qualifying session this weekend. Zilisch started in the 26th position based on the qualifying metric.
When the race went green for the 188-lap event, Zilisch maintained track position as he was saving fuel and finished 22nd in the first stage, despite getting into the top-10 at one point, but was then shuffled out. In the second stage, the Trackhouse driver was caught up in “The Big One” on Lap 115, going into Turn 3. Zilisch was on the bottom lane and had nowhere to go. After being collected in the accident, he received damage to his No. 88 Red Bull Chevrolet. As Stage 2 concluded, he finished 27th in the running order.
For the remainder of the race, Zilisch stayed out of the way to gain experience on the drafting track. The race leaders took the checkered flag on Lap 188. Zilisch finished 26th in the running order, three laps down in his Cup Series debut.
“Unfortunately for us that’s typical Talladega where you get caught up in the Big One,” Zilisch said. “I had nowhere to go. I really thought the damage was worse, but the Trackhouse guys did a great job to get our Red Bull Chevrolet back in the race. Not the day we wanted for sure, but we’ll bounce back next week at Texas.”
Additionally, Spire Motorsports announced this past week that Zilisch will compete in the Truck Series race at Watkins Glen. This will mark the second consecutive time in two years that he will race at The Glen in a truck. Last year, Zilisch raced in the No. 45 Niece Motorsports entry, starting in 14th and finishing eighth in the Top 10.
