Connor Zilisch pumps the brakes on the NASCAR Cup Series returning to Rockingham

NASCAR Cup Series rookie Connor Zilisch got to experience the return of Rockingham Speedway firsthand as a driver in the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series in 2025, but the 19-year-old doesn't want to see the Cup Series return to "The Rock" just yet. 

Rockingham hasn't hosted a Cup Series race since 2004 but returned to the NASCAR calendar in 2025 with the NASCAR Truck Series and O'Reilly Auto Parts Series. While the Cup Series took last weekend off for Easter, both the Truck Series and O'Reilly Series returned to Rockingham. 

Both the 2025 and 2026 race weekends at Rockingham saw stellar crowds and were positively received by the NASCAR fan base, but Zilisch pumped the brakes on the Cup Series returning to the 0.94-mile oval immediately in a Tuesday interview with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. 

Connor Zilisch pumps brakes on Rockingham return

"I think you gotta give it a few more years before you give it a Cup date," Zilisch said on Tuesday's edition of "The Morning Drive." "I feel like the track still has too much grip and if we put Cup cars around there right now, it would be a very, very, very boring race. I don't think we'd be able to pass. 

"I'd say another two to three years. After that, I think it'd be possible to put Cup cars on there and have a good race."

Should Rockingham be added to the Cup Series schedule in the near future, the sanctioning body would likely be forced to remove a race from the schedule from a track in the Southeast.