Looking to better his Talladega Superspeedway finish the weekend before, Connor Zilisch heads to another new track on the schedule, Texas Motor Speedway. Zilisch was originally scheduled to race at the 1.5-mile speedway in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race last year, but sat out due to the late-race Talladega crash, which resulted in a back injury.
In doing so, Texas is one of the last tracks that Zilisch doesn’t have experience on. Despite not competing in the race last year, two-time Cup Series champion Kyle Larson, subbed in for the No. 88, won the race by leading the last 32 laps en route to victory. This weekend, Zilisch returns again to JR Motorsports, but this time to pilot the No. 1 Registix Chevrolet.
“I got to work with Rodney (Childers, crew chief) for the first time this year and got the opportunity to see how hard he works, how smart he is, and how much he loves this sport,” Zilisch said in a team release. “It’s been really, really cool to see that first-hand, and I’m honored to be the driver he got his first JRM win with. He has a lot of knowledge and loves the O’Reilly-style car. That’s what he came up working on with the old Cup cars, and that’s kind of his bread and butter. It’s been cool for me to get to work with him as the young guy.”
In his previous outing with the team, Zilisch is coming off a victory at Bristol earlier this month, where he led 24 laps by staying out on a late race caution and not coming down to pit road for fresh tires. Interestingly, when piloting the Registix car as the main sponsor, Zilisch won at Pocono last summer by leading 34 laps and at Watkins Glen after leading 60 laps.
NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series practice and qualifying begin Friday at 5 p.m. ET, live on the CW App, weather permitting. Should qualifying get in, Zilisch will be the 24th car to go out in the qualifying order. You can watch the Andy’s Frozen Custard 340 at 3:30 p.m. ET. live on the CW Network.
Meanwhile, on the Cup Series side, the young 19-year-old phenom will be making his first Cup Series Texas start, piloting the No. 88 Choice Privileges Chevrolet. It’ll be the third time this season Zilisch will drive the Choice Privileges machine. His most recent outings occurred at Kansas and Martinsville. In those two starts with the sponsor, he finished 26th at Martinsville, three laps down. He finished 29th at Kansas, two laps down.
While Zilisch may not have any starts at Texas, he is hopeful to have a solid result.
“Both ends are really different, and it’s pretty much single groove,” Zilisch said. “It’s going to be a challenge figuring it out, but we’re trying some new things and hopefully see results right away.”
Track time will be crucial this weekend for the Mooresville, North Carolina native, balancing two different series and gaining experience. However, Zilisch claims he has no problem racing two different cars on two different days.
“You carry more yaw in the O’Reilly car,” he added. “The Cup car wants you to stay disciplined. Track time is track time – I don’t struggle going back and forth.”
The NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying at 12:30 p.m./ET live on Prime Video. Zilisch will be the ninth car to go out to qualify. You can tune in to The WURTH 400 on Sunday at 3:30 p.m.ET. It will air live on Fox Sports 1 and MRN Radio.
