Connor_Zilisch

Connor Zilisch

Connor Zilisch

American racing driver

Connor Zilisch (born July 21, 2006) is an American racing driver. He is signed as a development driver for Trackhouse Racing as of 2024. Under that agreement, Zilisch competes in select races across multiple racing series, including the NASCAR Xfinity Series (for JR Motorsports), the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (for Spire Motorsports), the ARCA Menards Series (for Pinnacle Racing Group), the CARS Tour, the Trans-Am Series (for Silver Hare Racing), the IMSA SportsCar Championship (for Era Motorsport) and the Global MX-5 Cup.

Quick Facts Born, Achievements ...

Notable achievements include winning the 2024 24 Hours of Daytona and the 2024 12 Hours of Sebring in the LMP2 class in his first attempt, and being the first American driver to win the Karting Academy Trophy.

Racing career

Early career

Karting

Zilisch started competing in go-karts at the age of 5 in 2011. He would spend 10 years racing karts before moving up to cars in 2021. Zilisch karted primarily in the United States until 2017 when he won the Mini Rok World Championship in South Garda, Italy competing against more than 160 other competitors from 33 different countries. He returned to Europe to race primarily in the FIA OKJ class in 2018–2020 and made the "A" final in the OKJ World Championship in both 2019 and 2020. In 2020 he also became the first ever American to win the CIK-FIA Karting Academy Trophy, a three race series where competitors from all over the world all race on identical equipment.[1]

Mazda MX-5 Global Cup and Trans-Am

Zilisch began racing cars in early 2021 with the Sports Car Club of America in the Spec Miata class and quickly began showing strong results, setting 3 track records and reaching the podium multiple times. At the SCCA Run-offs in Indianapolis that year, Zilisch finished 3rd out of ~ 90 cars in the competitive Spec Miata class and shortly thereafter was named the SCCA Jim Fitzgerald Rookie of the Year. Zilisch also competed in the Mazda MX-5 Cup Shootout competition, in late 2021, winning the $110,000 scholarship which would fund his participation in the series in 2022. In late 2021 Zilisch also ran his first Trans Am TA2 race at Virginia International Raceway earning pole position while shattering the track record as a rookie driver. He led the race early until a mechanical issue forced him to retire early, however, his performance in the race led to his being invited to race TA2 full-time for Silver Hare Racing in 2022.

In the Mazda MX-5 Cup series, Zilisch recorded 4 wins on the season and nearly won the championship in the last race of the season at Road Atlanta. In that race, Zilisch needed to finish at least 3 spots ahead of Jared Thomas to win the $250K championship prize and on track he did that, finishing 6th to Thomas' 9th place finish, however a post-race penalty to Alex Bachoura (who finished in between Zilisch and Thomas) ended up moving Thomas up one position and handing him the championship. Zilisch won $85K for second place and was also named the Mazda MX-5 Cup Rookie of the Year for 2022.[2]

Late Models

Pro Late Models

In June 2022 Zilisch would make his Pro Late Model debut in the No. 4 for Setzer Racing and Development at Orange County Speedway with the Carolina Pro Late Model Series where he would win the pole, and led all the laps en route to his first career victory in an Asphalt Late Model overall and Pro Late Model.[3]

For 2023 Zilisch would return to the No. 25 for Rackley WAR running select events in the CARS Pro Late Model Tour. He would win at Ace Speedway in his 2nd start of the season holding off Caden Kvapil to do so.[4]

Late Model Stock Cars

In 2022 Zilisch began racing late model cars to prepare him for a potential path to NASCAR. He would start to run Late Model Stock Cars in the No. 57 for Carroll Speedshop. He would score 2 wins on the year both coming at Hickory Motor Speedway as well as 2 other podium positions.

For 2023 Zilisch would return to the No. 57 for Carroll Speedshop on a part-time basis in the CARS Late Model Stock Car Tour. At Hickory Motor Speedway during the Throwback 276 in 2023 Zilisch would run a throwback to the No. 98 Dogecoin car driven in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2014 by his current driver coach Josh Wise.

ARCA Menards Series

2023

On August 14, 2023, it was announced Zilisch would make his ARCA Menards Series debut in the No. 28 for Pinnacle Racing Group at that weekend's race at Watkins Glen.[5] Zilisch qualified 2nd behind Corey LaJoie and then went on to dominate the race, leading 34 out of the race's 42 laps, and barely lost the race after getting moved in the final corner of the final lap from the lead by Jesse Love going on to still finish second despite an ill handling car affected by a broken front sway bar.

NASCAR

On January 11, 2024, Zilisch signed a multi-year contract with Trackhouse Racing as a developmental driver. His developmental program in 2024 and 2025 consists of races in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, as well as ARCA, CARS Tour, Trans-Am, and IMSA.[6]

Personal life

Zilisch, when not driving himself, is a driver coach to younger drivers in the Karting ranks. He was announced as a client of KHI Management in 2021, but subsequently parted ways with the company in early 2023.[7]

Zilisch's mother, Janice Kerr, was a gymnast on the Canadian women's national artistic gymnastics team and a member of the 1983 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships tenth-place team. She was the NCAA Southeast Region all-around champion in 1987 and 1988.[8] Kerr was named the Southeastern Conference H. Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 1990, one of only 4 Florida Gators to have won the award.[9]

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Xfinity Series

More information NASCAR Xfinity Series results, Year ...

Craftsman Truck Series

More information NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series results, Year ...

ARCA Menards Series

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

More information ARCA Menards Series results, Year ...

ARCA Menards Series East

More information ARCA Menards Series East results, Year ...

ARCA Menards Series West

More information ARCA Menards Series West results, Year ...

CARS Late Model Stock Car Tour

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led. ** – All laps led.)

More information CARS Late Model Stock Car Tour results, Year ...

CARS Pro Late Model Tour

(key)

More information CARS Pro Late Model Tour results, Year ...

Carolina Pro Late Model Series

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led. ** – All laps led.)

More information Carolina Pro Late Model Series results, Year ...

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results

(key)(Races in bold indicate pole position. Races in italics indicate fastest race lap in class. Results are overall/class)

More information Year, Team ...

* Season still in progress

References

  1. [1]
    "Inside Mazda MX-5 Cup: Connor Zilisch's rapid learning curve". RACER. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  2. [2]
    "Connor Zilisch's Freshman Year". BFGoodrich. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  3. [3]
    "FIRST COME, FIRST SERVE – 2022 Carolina Pro Late Model Series/Carolina Crate Modified Series At Orange County Speedway". Short Track Report. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  4. [4]
    "Connor Zilisch Drives To First CARS Tour Pro Late Model Victory At Ace Speedway". FloSports. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  5. [5]
    "Connor Zilisch to make ARCA debut at Watkins Glen with Pinnacle Racing Group". ARCA Menards Series. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  6. [6]
    "Trackhouse Racing signs developmental driver Connor Zilisch to multi-year contract". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media. January 11, 2023. Retrieved January 12, 2023.
  7. [7]
    "KHI Management". KHI Management. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  8. [8]
    "1990 Gymnastics Roster". floridagators.com. University Athletic Assoc., Inc., FOX Sports Sun & IMG College. Retrieved February 11, 2024.
  9. [9]
    "McWhorter Scholar-Athletes of the Year announced". www.secsports.com. ESPN. May 2, 2023. Retrieved February 11, 2024.
  10. [10]
    "Connor Zilisch - 2024 ARCA Menards Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved March 23, 2024.
  11. [11]
    "Connor Zilisch - 2023 ARCA Menards Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  12. [12]
    "Connor Zilisch - 2024 ARCA Menards Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 26, 2024.
  13. [13]
    "Connor Zilisch - 2024 ARCA Menards Series East Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved March 20, 2024.
  14. [14]
    "Connor Zilisch – 2022 CARS Late Model Stock Car Tour Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  15. [15]
    "Connor Zilisch – 2023 CARS Late Model Stock Car Tour Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  16. [16]
    "Connor Zilisch – 2023 CARS Pro Late Model Tour Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  17. [17]
    "Connor Zilisch – 2022 Carolina Pro Late Model Series Results". CPLMS. CPLMS. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Connor_Zilisch, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.