Silly Season: NASCAR Insiders dish on difficult Connor Zilisch decision for Trackhouse

This year’s Silly Season in NASCAR is shaping up to be a bit more tame than year’s past. Still, there’s a couple of key dominoes waiting to fall, and it all begins with Trackhouse Racing.

Their dilemma? What does the future hold for wunderkind Connor Zilisch. Examining where everything stands at the moment, Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic broke down whether we could see the 18-year old in the Cup Series as soon as 2026.

“The Justin Marks-owned team has four drivers under contract and only three spots on its Cup roster — one of which is taken, with Ross Chastain still under contract for multiple years and delivering exceptional performance,” Bianchi prefaced. “Jockeying for the other rides are Daniel Suárez, Shane van Gisbergen and Connor Zilisch. The former two are currently teammates with Chastain in the Cup Series, while the latter is a promising rookie in NASCAR’s second-tier Xfinity Series.

“Both van Gisbergen and Zilisch have terms remaining on their respective contracts, with Suárez’s contract up at the end of the season. And, it may come down to just this factor — letting pending free agent Suárez, who sits 30th in points, walk to promote Zilisch.”

While that seems like the likeliest scenario, there’s a caveat — Suárez is well-liked within Trackhouse, and he also has been with the team since the start. The Monterrey, Mexico native brings sponsorship, and he’s certainly more proven than van Gisbergen and even Zilisch. Still, their potential might be too much to pass on.

“We’ll see what his future holds, but right now we have a mechanism in the company to put that extra car out,” Marks said, regarding Zilisch running some Cup races in 2025. “We just want him to get that experience. No expectations for results or anything like that.

“We have the opportunity to give him the learning experience, and we’ll continue to do that. The Cup Series is a different sport than the Xfinity Series. It is just so, so difficult. The only way to learn is to go out there and do it.”

If Trackhouse decides to keep Zilisch in Xfinity, they can effectively postpone any major decision for another year: “This pathway would enable Suárez to retain his ride while also providing Marks with a larger sample size to assess whether van Gisbergen can adapt to ovals,” Bianchi wrote. “Then, next year, Trackhouse could decide on whether to retain Suárez or van Gisbergen.”

All told, Justin Marks told The Athletic that no decisions have been made about Trackhouse’s 2026 roster, “and the team hasn’t even started contemplating it.” With an influx of road courses on the horizon, Shane van Gisbergen will have a chance to make his case. Daniel Suárez too. But Connor Zilisch is certainly lurking at the moment.