Justin Marks reacts to new Red Bull sponsorship, impact on NASCAR

This week, Trackhouse Racing made the huge announcement that Red Bull would return to NASCAR as a sponsor for two of their drivers. Shane van Gisbergen and Connor Zilisch will both sport Red Bull Chevys in select Cup Series races this year.

SVG coming to Trackhouse opened the door for this deal to be done. He was a Red Bull athlete before and was sponsored by them in Supercars. He kept wearing Red Bull hats and sported the sponsor on his helmet in 2024. Zilisch was added to their athlete roster last year.

Justin Maks went on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio and talked about the new Red Bull deal. Busch Light, Red Bull, and WeatherTech are three massive sponsors. Trackhouse has all of them.

“This is bigger than Trackhouse, this is bigger than Red Bull alone,” Marks said. “This is just a big moment for the sport of NASCAR. I mean, you know, it’s influential and it’s a big moment for all of us. For the fans, the teams, the media partners. for everybody. that Red Bull has made the commitment to dive back in because I think everybody knows, you know, they don’t do anything small.

“When it comes to brands that activate in motorsports globally, there’s just nobody bigger, more influential than Red Bull, and they recognize where there’s opportunities in all forms of motorsports to tell a really unique story. Find partnerships that reflect their passion for motorsports, their creativity, their willingness to take risks. You know, all of us at Trackhouse are really thrilled and honored that they saw those attributes in the partnership with us.”

Red Bull debuting with Connor Zilisch at COTA

The first time Red Bull returns from their more than decade-long hiatus, they will be with Connor Zilisch in his Cup Series debut. A highly touted 18 year old, Zilisch is going to bring the iconic brand back to NASCAR in his first Cup race. That’s major.

Red Bull signed Zilisch last year he impressed in a handful of series.

“You know, it’s something we’ve been working on for a couple of years, it was sort of a slow buildup but timing and you know, the athletes that we’ve got in the cars now,” Marks continued. “Just where Red Bull is as a company and you know, a lot of things are happening in the motorsports ecosystem around their partnerships and portfolio. Just kind of lined up perfectly for us to put this deal together and it’s something that I suspect that will grow over time, I think this partnership’s going to be a lot of fun.

Trackhouse Racing is doing everything right. In 2024, they did take a bit of a step back. Ross Chastain also had a lot of bad luck, like that Nashville race. But there is nothing that tells me they can’t find success again.

From Red Bull to Helio Castroneves in the 91 car at Daytona to Connor Zilisch. All of the moves lately have been excellent. This is an organization that knows what it is doing. They have a vision and a brand and are able to use that to their advantage.

When it comes to new teams – Trackhouse is the example. Modern, fun, great drivers with talent and personality. What more could they be doing? If NASCAR is going to gain in popularity here and internationally, it is going to be through teams like Trackhouse.