Connor Zilisch will be a full-time driver for the NASCAR Cup Series in 2026, and a couple of insiders have some interesting things to say about the move. On the Door Bumper Clear podcast, Tommy Baldwin and Freddie Kraft discussed how Zilisch will handle the transition.
“The kid is so mentally ahead of everybody of his age, of his thought process, of what he’s doing,” Baldwin said. “He can turn on and off like that. I’ve watched it. I’ve been around him enough to see and watch his actions, and do the things that he does, and how he talks and how he thinks.”
Kraft shared his thoughts on Connor Zilisch, saying that he might have a hard time adjusting to the Cup Series. “When we see Connor get in these pressure situations, he has a tendency to make mistakes,” Kraft said. Kraft then listed examples of when Zilisch made his mistakes, such as Mexico with Ty Gibbs, Watkins Glen, where he ended up wrecking Shan van Gisbergen, and the Xfinity race at COTA.
Connor Zilisch reacts to joining the NASCAR Cup Series
“He has to clean that s**t up when he gets himself a little behind eight ball, and he’s going to spend a lot of time behind the eight ball in the Cup Series,” Kraft continued. “He’s not going to come in and just dominate like he is.”
Zilisch, 19, currently drives full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for JR Motorsports and has won six races this year. Last week, Trackhouse Racing announced that Zilisch signed a multi-year deal to drive the No. 99 car in the Cup Series.
“It’s cool. I knew the whole world knew already, but still to be able to say it and have my name next to the word ‘Cup Series’ is really cool,” Zilisch said during his press conference, per NASCAR.com. “So, I wasn’t going to try and hide from it, but it’s just a day that I’ve been dreaming of for a long time and I’m not going to let that kind of the idea that everybody already knows take away from the moment.”
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