Connor Zilisch did not expect to enter his rookie season at Trackhouse Racing and immediately contend for Cup Series wins. He also did not expect to be bounced around like a pinball for four consecutive weeks.
Videos by FanBuzz
That's exactly what has happened as crashes collected him in the season-opening Daytona 500 and the following week at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Other drivers then spun him multiple times at Circuit of the Americas.
Last weekend at Phoenix Raceway, he had his cleanest race as a Cup Series driver...until a brake rotor exploded and ruined his day.
"I've definitely had a rough stretch of weeks, you know, with incidents and things just kind of out of my control," Zilisch told media members on Tuesday. "Eventually, I as a race car driver, I have a hard time saying it's bad luck when it's four weeks in a row.
"So I definitely just need to do a better job putting myself in positions where I'm not going to get wrecked all the time."
Tough way to start the season but still a long way to go. Lots of positives to take away from today in the @TeamTrackhouse camp. I just need to make it to the end of these things. pic.twitter.com/ndAAGXAHGy
— Connor Zilisch (@ConnorZilisch) February 23, 2026
Viewed as a phenom by many, Zilisch has quickly achieved success in multiple racing series. He won his first Rolex 24 start in 2024. He then won again at Sebring International Raceway.
The success continued as he moved to stock car racing. He won the pole for his first Craftsman Truck Series start and then finished fourth after recovering from multiple in-race mistakes. He won five ARCA Menards Series East races as a rookie in 2024 and only fell short of the championship due to a crash out of his control.
Zilisch also took on the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series, where he won the pole and the race in his first-ever start at Watkins Glen International. One year later, he led the series with 10 wins before ending the season second in the standings. A series of late cautions and slower pit stops put Jesse Love in control of the championship battle.
Zilisch hasn't experienced the same success at NASCAR's top level this season. He has shown speed at multiple tracks, but incidents have led to an average finish of 26.5. He ranks 34th among Cup Series drivers after four races.
"I knew that I was a rookie. I knew I was going to have a learning curve," Zilisch said. "So has it caught me off guard? No, not really. I feel like I expected it to be tough, and I knew it was not going to be as easy as everything else I've done."
And while he feels that he has gotten the "short end of the stick" sometimes, he also recognizes that he's essentially been learning this Cup Series racing on the fly. He's faced multiple styles of tracks and multiple horsepower/aerodynamic packages, not to mention some unexpected tire wear.
This created a steep learning curve, one that will only continue this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway as he faces the potential for high winds and a bumpy racing surface that causes cars to suddenly spin out.
Zilisch has not taken on the Nevada track in the Cup Series — his only intermediate start is the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway last season. So once again, he will have to learn on the fly during practice and qualifying.
He doesn't expect to go out and contend for a top-10 finish at the intermediate track, although it would be nice. At this point, he just wants to finally have a clean race.
"I think getting through the entire day on Sunday with, first of all, finishing on the lead lap and making it to the end," he said. "I've only done that at COTA. So just a clean race that I can say, 'I made it to the end and didn't have an incident.' That would be ideal."
