{"id":161566,"date":"2026-02-12T13:09:18","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T13:09:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/161566\/"},"modified":"2026-02-12T13:09:18","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T13:09:18","slug":"from-daytonas-grandstands-to-starting-grid-teen-phenom-connor-zilisch-set-for-500-debut-orlando-sentinel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/161566\/","title":{"rendered":"From Daytona\u2019s grandstands to starting grid, teen phenom Connor Zilisch set for 500 debut \u2013 Orlando Sentinel"},"content":{"rendered":"

DAYTONA BEACH \u2014 NASCAR Cup Series rookie Connor Zilisch<\/a> had never raced on an oval track when he first made his way to Daytona International Speedway<\/a> in 2022.<\/p>\n

A go-karts specialist already at 15, Zilisch was coaching a kid in Orlando when his parents offered a deal.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Hey, you want to go to the Daytona 500?\u2019 I thought, \u2018Man, what a cool opportunity that would be,\u2019 \u201d Zilisch recalled Wednesday during the Daytona 500 media day. \u201cI traded my pay for a ticket to the race and a place to stay that night.\u201d<\/p>\n

Four years later, Zilisch will be trading paint on the storied 2.5-mile oval during Sunday\u2019s Daytona 500.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really full circle for me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Now in the spotlight as a 19-year-old phenom, Zilisch was incognito as he watched Austin Cindric win the \u201922 500<\/a> as a 23-year-old rookie.<\/p>\n

\u201cI sat in the grandstands. I didn\u2019t even know enough people to get a pit pass,\u201d Zilisch said. \u201cIt just shows how quickly life can change \u2026 how crazy things in life can happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zilisch\u2019s fast rise on the auto racing ladder has not been by accident. He mastered every level he\u2019s entered, earning a full-time Cup Series ride before most drivers can rent a car.<\/p>\n

His r\u00e9sum\u00e9 suggests he won\u2019t just participate in Sunday\u2019s Daytona 500 \u2014 he could contend.<\/p>\n

\"NASCARNASCAR Cup Series rookie Connor Zilisch, drives of the No. 88 Trackhouse Chevrolet during the Cook Out Clash Feb. 4 at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston Salem, North Carolina. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Yet Zilisch\u2019s goals are modest despite outsized expectations.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe got to be realistic; this is my first start,\u201d he said. \u201cI appreciate the excitement. It\u2019s really cool that there\u2019s a lot of people excited to watch how I\u2019m going to do this season, whether it\u2019s fans or media.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do think it sometimes gets a little outlandish.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zilisch himself is partly to blame.<\/p>\n

Behind a babyface hides a ruthless closer who has made a habit of parking in Victory Lane.<\/p>\n

He won the Karting Academy Trophy in 2020 at age 14. By 2021, he\u2019d shifted to sports cars. In 2022, he added stock cars.<\/p>\n

Then came a breakout 2024. Zilisch drove for the winning teams in the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring in the LMP2 class in his first attempts. He captured five of eight ARCA Menards Series starts and, less than two months after his 18th birthday, won his first NASCAR Xfinity Series race.<\/p>\n

That September victory at Watkins Glen led to a 10-win 2025 season, highlighted by an Xfinity-record 18 consecutive top-five finishes.<\/p>\n

Zilisch\u2019s skill and poise are a powerful combination.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know how his family raised him, but they did a really good job,\u201d Trackhouse House Racing teammate Ross Chastain said. \u201cIt\u2019s probably something that we need to study because they turned out a great kid, mature beyond his years \u2014 like, it\u2019s not fair.<\/p>\n

\u201cSpeed on track together with the composure off track is cool to see.\u201d<\/p>\n

Polished, polite and well-spoken, Zilisch was engaged and unflappable at media day.<\/p>\n

Cup Series legend Jimmie Johnson, Zilisch\u2019s idol as a kid, noticed something different the first time the two met.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s certainly something special about him and his energy and excitement for the job,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cAt the same time, so far, the moments haven\u2019t seemed too big.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now comes Zilisch\u2019s biggest test yet.<\/p>\n

\"NASCARNASCAR driver Connor Zilisch smiles prior to the May 25, 2025 race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C. (AP Photo\/Matt Kelley, file)<\/p>\n

Sunday, he\u2019ll strap into the No. 88 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Trackhouse \u2014 the number made famous by Dale Earnhardt Jr.<\/p>\n

Talent alone won\u2019t carry Zilisch. Veteran crew chief Randall Burnett and a strong car will matter, given his inexperience. So will patience.<\/p>\n

Daytona has humbled recent prodigies.<\/p>\n

Joey Logano was 19 when he made his 500 debut in 2009. A Lap 79 crash left him 43rd. He didn\u2019t win the Great American Race until 2015.<\/p>\n

Kyle Busch was a 20-year-old phenom when he finished 38th during his first start at the Daytona 500, the one race that has eluded the 63-time winner.<\/p>\n

Trevor Bayne, just 20, became the youngest Daytona 500 winner in 2011 but would never win another Cup Series race.<\/p>\n

Zilisch already has experienced disappointment along the Cup Series learning curve. A crash in his debut at Austin left him last in a 37-car field. Finishes of 23rd at Charlotte and 11th at Atlanta showed progress \u2014 but not the dominance he displayed in Xfinity.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think I realized how big of a jump it is from Saturday to Sunday,\u201d he\u00a0 said, noting the days when Xfinity (now the NASCAR O\u2019Reilly Auto Parts Series) and Cup Series run.<\/p>\n

Zilisch\u2019s biggest misstep in NASCAR\u2019s minor leagues came after his Aug. 10 win at Watkins Glen. He slipped and fell while standing on the roof and door of his car, breaking his collarbone while celebrating his sixth win of the season.<\/p>\n

Zilisch had surgery within 48 hours \u2014 and won again 13 days later at Daytona in the Xfinity Wawa 250.<\/p>\n

A plate remains to secure the bone, but Zilisch\u2019s strength is back to normal.<\/p>\n

Only his best will give Zilisch a chance to become the only teen to prevail during NASCAR\u2019s showcase event.<\/p>\n

Speed and success have come easily, but Zilisch has never raced on such a big stage. He knows this from experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cDaytona 500 is a different animal,\u201d he said. \u201cSeeing that for the first time was just eye-opening.\u201d<\/p>\n

Edgar Thompson can be reached at egthompson@orlandosentinel.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Daytona 500<\/p>\n

When: 2:30 p.m., Sunday<\/p>\n

Where: Daytona International Speedway<\/p>\n

TV: FOX<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DAYTONA BEACH \u2014 NASCAR Cup Series rookie Connor Zilisch had never raced on an oval track when he…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":161567,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133,8645,154],"class_list":["post-161566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news","tag-motorsports","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161566","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=161566"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161566\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/161567"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=161566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=161566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=161566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}