Welcome Rookie: Can Connor Zilisch Match These Nice Yr 1 Cup Seasons?

[ad_1] Connor Zilisch is aware of that he received’t simply be in comparison with the drivers he'll race in opposition to in 2026.

The Trackhouse Racing driver received 10 races final yr in NASCAR’s prime developmental sequence. So there’s a purpose for all of the hype.

May he have one of the best rookie season of all-time?

The 19-year-old is making an attempt not to take a look at it that means, particularly in an period the place there's just about no testing aside from an occasional take a look at at a brand new monitor or a tire take a look at. Previous to 2015, groups may take a look at as a lot as they needed at tracks that didn’t have Cup races. And NASCAR additionally has reduce the quantity of observe time drivers get on the race monitor considerably over the past 10 years.

How will Connor Zilisch fare in his rookie Cup season in comparison with a number of the greats?

"It will take time to determine it out," Zilisch informed me. "And there is no strategy to make up expertise, particularly right this moment once we cannot take a look at. You are at a deficit. And the one strategy to make that up is to go on the market and race and determine it out.

"I am wanting ahead to going out and doing that."

Zilisch received his debut in what's now the O’Reilly Collection (previously Xfinity) at Watkins Glen a pair years in the past and street programs are his specialty. The factor is, his Trackhouse teammate, Shane van Gisbergen, received 5 of the Cup road-course races final yr.

SVG, as he's generally identified, set the bar so far as variety of wins for a rookie. No rookie had ever received greater than three.

"Final yr with Shane, 5 wins is fairly spectacular," Zilisch mentioned. "There's guys Tony Stewart and means again within the day, a number of guys that had profitable years. However there have been much more who've taken time to study and I do know that is going to be the case at first."

Zilisch mentioned he’s executed every little thing he may to arrange for the yr.

"You may solely achieve this a lot," he mentioned. "I really feel like expertise goes to be the largest factor that I've to compensate for. I am asking the questions that I really feel like I have to ask, and doing as a lot with my teammates as I can."

Listed below are the eight rookie performances within the final 50 years that Zilisch doubtless may very well be in comparison with when taking a look at his rookie marketing campaign.

8. Shane van Gisbergen (2025, Age 36 at finish of season)

SVG received all 5 of his races on street programs and he completed twelfth within the standings. However his common end was twenty first. And that was respectable for a driver who was in simply his second yr of NASCAR racing after successful three Supercar championships in Australia.

7. Dale Earnhardt (1979, Age 28)

Earnhardt received at Bristol and averaged a ten.7 end in his rookie yr driving for Rod Osterlund. He completed seventh within the standings but in addition missed 4 races after struggling accidents in a crash at Pocono. In his first two races again, he received the pole in every and totaled 4 poles within the season.

6. Davey Allison (1987, Age 26)

Allison received two races and averaged a end of 14.2 for Ranier-Lundy Racing, and he put an unsponsored automotive on the entrance row for the Daytona 500. The crew struggled for funding early and Allison competed in 22 of the 29 occasions, successful at Talladega and Dover.

5. Ryan Newman (2002, Age 24)

Newman completed sixth within the standings as a rookie at Workforce Penske, successful at New Hampshire. He earned six poles and completed with 14 prime fives and 22 prime 10s. He received one of the debated Rookie of the Yr titles in opposition to ...

4. Jimmie Johnson (2002, Age 27)

Johnson received three races — Fontana and each Dover races — to complete fifth within the standings driving for Hendrick Motorsports. He had six prime fives and 21 prime 10s and 4 poles. Arguably, he was not as persistently quick as Newman, though Johnson’s common end of 13.5 was higher than Newman’s 14.5. What made Johnson’s efficiency so startling was that he had received only one race in two seasons in what's now the O’Reilly Collection.

3. Kevin Harvick (2001, Age 25)

Harvick’s rookie yr was one which got here a yr sooner than deliberate. Harvick was imagined to go full-time Cup racing in 2002 however was thrust into the highlight after the demise of Dale Earnhardt. Harvick received at Atlanta in his third profession begin and later that yr at Chicagoland He completed ninth within the standings (regardless of not working the Daytona 500) and averaged a end of 14.1.

2. Denny Hamlin (2006, Age 25)

Hamlin, with one winless O’Reilly season of expertise, stepped into the Cup automotive at Joe Gibbs Racing. He received two races — each at Pocono — and completed third within the standings. He had a mean end of 12.5 with 20 prime 10s and only one race the place he didn’t end.

1. Tony Stewart (1999, Age 28)

Stewart had already received an INDYCAR title earlier than coming to NASCAR, and he didn’t disappoint in his first full Cup season at Joe Gibbs Racing as he positioned fourth within the standings. He received three races at Richmond, Phoenix and Homestead, all within the final 10 races of the yr. He completed with 12 prime fives and 21 prime 10s. His common end was 10.3. He solely had one DNF.