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Trackhouse owner Justin Marks reveals if Connor Zilisch will return to Cup Series in 2025

Nick Profile Picby:Nick Geddes•about 12 hours•

NickGeddesNews

Connor Zilisch
Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Connor Zilisch‘s NASCAR Cup Series debut this past Sunday at COTA only lasted 50 laps, but the 18-year-old more than proved he can hang in the sport’s top series at least on road courses.

While credited with a P37 finish after crashing into a sliding Daniel Suárez, Zilisch ran some of the fastest laps throughout the field. Up to that point, he had rebounded nicely after getting caught up in someone else’s mess in Turn 1 of Lap 1.

Now, the question is whether Zilisch will make any more starts in Cup for Trackhouse Racing in 2025. Team owner Justin Marks said Monday on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio that they prefer Zilisch remain focused on winning an Xfinity Series championship.

“We certainly want to give him as much opportunity as possible to get time in the Cup car. But it’s also a little bit of balance for a couple reasons,” Marks said. “One, we want him to stay focused on trying to win the Xfinity Series championship, and this is a guy that’s raced so many different types of cars and different types of races the last couple of years and hasn’t really had an opportunity to be singularly focused on one championship run like he does this year. So, we want to kind of eliminate distractions. And make sure he’s in a position where he can focus on that.”

Connor Zilisch impressive in first Cup Series start

Zilisch is locked into the Xfinity playoffs after taking the checkered flag in Saturday’s race at COTA. With two victories in seven starts, Zilisch is the second-youngest driver ever to win multiple Xfinity races. The other factor at play, Marks said, is Trackhouse’s ability to field four cars. Trackhouse has done it twice already this season, and it’s a big task for the folks back at the shop.

“The other thing is it’s hard for us to field four cars. I mean, it’s a big effort,” Marks said. “We’ve done it twice already in the first three races of the season and it’s a lot of work in the shop. We’re not set up as a four-car team. That’s the balance too and then obviously with the Red Bull component. They love Connor, they want to see him in the Cup car. It’s a discussion that happens inside the shop from a workflow standpoint. It’s a discussion that happens with Red Bull and just kind of solving all that.”

But that doesn’t mean a return to Cup this season is off the table. If an opportunity presents itself, more experience in the Next Gen car wouldn’t be a bad thing for Zilisch.

“I’m hopeful. I think it would be great for him,” Marks said. “It certainly helps grease the wheel a little bit for him that he’s already won in the Xfinity Series and he’s in the playoffs. Maybe there’s that opportunity to double up on another weekend coming up. But we just got to be smart and intentional about it. Not throw too much at the kid at one time. But his future is in the NASCAR Cup Series and so any laps he can do in that car will be helpful for him.”