{"id":266863,"date":"2025-11-07T02:58:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-07T02:58:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/266863\/"},"modified":"2025-11-07T02:58:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T02:58:09","slug":"connor-zilisch-next-career-move-confirmed-after-nascar-disappointment-motorsport-sports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/266863\/","title":{"rendered":"Connor Zilisch next career move confirmed after NASCAR disappointment – Motorsport – Sports"},"content":{"rendered":"

Connor Zilisch\u2019s next career move is set in motion just days after a crushing NASCAR<\/a> disappointment, while he also could potentially one-up Kyle Larson.<\/a><\/p>\n

The 19-year-old Xfinity Series runner-up will take part in the IMSA-sanctioned test at Daytona International Speedway later this month, driving the #31 Action Express Racing Cadillac V-Series.R LMDh.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The test, running from November 14\u201316, will see Zilisch, who showed his true colors after falling short of the Xfinity crown<\/a>, share driving duties with Jack Aitken, Earl Bamber, and Frederik Vesti, a star-studded lineup that hints at Cadillac\u2019s intent to evaluate him for a potential GTP drive in next year\u2019s 24 Hours of Daytona.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a remarkable rebound for Zilisch, who was recently denied an opportunity to participate in the FIA World Endurance Championship\u2019s rookie test in Bahrain due to a lack of ACCUS (Automobile Competition Committee for the United States) license points.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The missed chance came as a direct consequence of his narrow Xfinity Series loss, which cost him not only a championship but the points required to meet international eligibility standards.<\/p>\n

Sign up to our NASCAR newsletter here.<\/a><\/p>\n

Zilisch had been the clear favorite for the 2025 Xfinity title after a season of dominance driving for JR Motorsports. He racked up 10 wins, 16 podiums, and an 18-race top-five streak that stretched deep into the playoffs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But NASCAR\u2019s contentious playoff format, often criticized for favoring short-term performance over season-long excellence, ultimately worked against him. Jesse Love passed Zilisch with 24 laps to go at Phoenix Raceway, snatching both the race victory and the championship.<\/p>\n

Still, his peers across NASCAR were quick to remind him that his career trajectory remains sky-high. Both Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin reached out to offer words of encouragement. Larson, fresh off his second Cup Series title, texted Zilisch to tell him, \u201cThis isn\u2019t going to change your career. I know it sucks.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

DON’T MISS…<\/p>\n

Hamlin, who had lost his own title bid in overtime to Larson, echoed the sentiment, letting the teenager know that \u201cpeople still believe in you.\u201d Those gestures meant a lot to Zilisch, who later said, \u201cIt helps to have people who let you know you still succeeded. It gives peace of mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, the young driver has a new reason to look forward. His upcoming Daytona test marks his first time behind the wheel of an LMDh prototype, a huge milestone for any American driver aiming to balance stock-car and endurance racing careers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHopefully, we\u2019re going to make the most of it and see if this can lead to more opportunities for me in the Cadillac,\u201d Zilisch said. \u201cIt would be super cool for me to be able to race at the highest levels of endurance racing \u2014 that\u2019s always been a dream of mine.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Connor Zilisch\u2019s next career move is set in motion just days after a crushing NASCAR disappointment, while he…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":266864,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[49,122926,48,9398,122925,2332,634,122924,82],"class_list":["post-266863","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nascar","tag-ca","tag-cadillac-v-series-r-lmdh","tag-canada","tag-connor-zilisch","tag-imsa-test","tag-motorsport-section","tag-nascar","tag-nascar-disappointment","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266863","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=266863"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266863\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/266864"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=266863"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=266863"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=266863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}