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New York Times
25-02-2025
- Automotive
- New York Times
Connor Zilisch on his NASCAR Cup debut at 18, future goals and more: 12 Questions
Each week, The Athletic asks the same 12 questions to a different race car driver. Up next: Connor Zilisch, the 18-year-old phenom who will make his NASCAR Cup Series debut this weekend at Circuit of the Americas while driving for Trackhouse Racing. This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity, but the full version is available on the 12 Questions podcast. 1. What was one of the first autographs you got as a kid, and what do you remember about that moment? I never went to NASCAR races as a kid, so I'd say my first one was probably at the Daytona 24 (Rolex 24). Jan Magnussen, the Corvette driver. I was a big Corvette fan growing up — my dad always had Corvettes — so I came to that race when I was young. It was just so cool to then come back seven, eight, nine, 10 years later and race in the same car I was a fan of. Advertisement It was definitely a full-circle moment coming back. It was really cool for the kid in me. Well, I shouldn't say that, because I am a kid, but really cool for the 9- or 10-year-old in me who was such a big fan. 2. What is the most miserable you've ever been inside a race car? I'd probably say Michigan in an ARCA car. My helmet blower wasn't working, and I never thought an Xfinity car would feel cooler — but I got in the Xfinity car after, and it was like an ice bath compared to the ARCA car. My ARCA car, for some reason, was super hot. At Michigan, it's wide open. That was my first race on a big track — my first intermediate — and my throttle pedal was unbearably hot. We were wide open, so I couldn't take my foot off of it. Under caution, I was using my left foot on the throttle (to give his right foot a break). It was miserably hot inside the car. I remember getting out for my victory lane interview, and I was seeing stars. Were you worried you were going to pass out in victory lane? I could barely even think straight during my interview. That was my first time with the right-side glass, and we were super sealed off and wide open, so the motor was really hot. Ever since I got in the Xfinity car, nothing has been as hot as that ARCA car — especially now that we have the cooling shirts and everything. That was miserable. 3. Outside of racing, what is your most recent memory of something you got way too competitive about? Probably running a half marathon a year and a half ago. I prepared for it way more than I ever thought I would. I ended up running it in (one hour, 32 minutes), which is a seven (minute) flat pace. I trained a lot for that. I could not run that right now, but I spent a couple of months getting ready. I want to do a marathon one day — once I have the time to really focus and train, I'll definitely do it. Advertisement Matt Kenseth is trying to get all the World Marathon Majors (the seven highest-profile marathons — Boston, Chicago, London, New York City, Sydney, Tokyo and Berlin). That's really cool — definitely something I'd want to do one day. 4. What do people get wrong about you? Just my upbringing and experience level. I never raced ovals growing up. I never thought I was going to race in NASCAR. I think people understand that when they see me on road courses, but to a certain extent, it's still surprising to them. I grew up racing on road courses, traveled the world racing go-karts, and never thought I'd race NASCAR. It was never my dream — I always just wanted to race at the highest level of motorsports, whether that was NASCAR, IndyCar, IMSA or F1. It didn't matter. I just wanted to make a living racing cars. If you'd asked me as a kid, NASCAR would have been my last guess. But I've really enjoyed the journey, the path and everything about it to this point. 5. What kind of Uber passenger are you, and how much do you care about your Uber rating? Actually, that's funny — my Uber rating is really important to me. I always check it after rides. Funny enough, my rating went from a 5.0 to a 4.83 a month or two ago. I really want to know why someone didn't give me five stars. Maybe I wasn't a good conversationalist or something. I try to be as respectful as possible. I've never been kicked out of my own Uber, but I've been in an Uber where we got kicked out — not for my doing. 6. This slot usually is where I ask about a hot topic of the week, but Chase Briscoe was so excited you were the next 12 Questions that he submitted three questions for you. I'm going to use one here: Do you think you can wear out the Cup field in your Cup debut at COTA? He thinks you can. And what do you think Cup racing will be like as an experience for you? Do I think I can wear out the field? No. You see other guys come into Cup who are road course ringers — other than (Shane van Gisbergen) — like ex-F1 drivers, and they don't just go out and dominate. I definitely want to be competitive and run inside the top 10, but wearing out the field is a whole different thing in the Cup Series. Advertisement My friends always tell me, 'You're in for a rude awakening when you go Cup racing.' Noah (Gragson) won eight or nine Xfinity races in a season, then went to Cup and struggles to run inside the top 10. What he tells me definitely gets me prepared, as well as Zane (Smith) and Todd (Gilliland). But road courses are what I feel like I'm really good at, so I'm excited to go to COTA and compete. It's going to be tough, though. The Cup Series is a whole other level. I'm just really excited to learn and race against guys I remember watching on TV as a kid. It's going to be a really cool experience, and I moreso want to enjoy it than be nervous and scared about it. You only make your Cup debut once, so I'm going to try and enjoy it as much as I can. 7. For the wild-card question this year, I'm picking a question from the first 15 years of the 12 Questions interviews. This one is from 20111: When you eventually retire someday, what do you want your retirement story to say about you? I know this is absurd because you're only 18 years old, but we can make this sort of a time capsule. Man, I feel like (Kevin) Harvick's entire year of retirement was so cool. The tracks doing special paint on the walls for him, the 36 different steering wheels he used and gave them to people — it was all just such a great way to go out. I don't know what I'd want headlines to say; I don't want to predict the future. But I hope to one day become a champion in this series. I want to race in Cup, be super successful and win championships. Going out as a hero would be so cool. You want to be a legend in the sport, like Jimmie (Johnson) or Richard Petty. That's everyone's goal. But at the same time, I want to be humble about it. I don't want to go out and make it a big deal I'm leaving. But for the guys like Kevin who have had successful careers, it's really cool to make a whole year about them. Or I could do a Carl Edwards and say 'See you guys!' But I do want to become a legend in the sport and a hero, and if I could do that, it would be really cool. 8. Other than one of your teammates, name a driver you'd be one of the first to congratulate in victory lane. Jesse Love would be one of my first picks, just as best friends. I remember sitting at Orange County Speedway, watching his Talladega win. It ended right before sunset, which was right before the CARS Tour race started. … I wish I could have been there to see him win. Advertisement He came to victory lane for me at Watkins Glen (where he won last year in his Xfinity Series debut), and so did a bunch of other guys, which surprised me — Tyler Reddick, Ryan Blaney, Zane Smith. That meant more to me than they probably realized. I do think it's really important to go to victory lane for a debut win, especially once you're in the Cup Series and established; going down and congratulating those guys is something I definitely want to do, because it made more of an impact on me than I expected it to. 9. How much do you use AI technology in your daily life? (Laughs.) So, finishing high school a year ago, I was at the point before teachers had AI detectors. My last year of high school, I could use AI without the teachers being able to use the AI detectors. Hopefully, my dad is not reading this, but I definitely used AI more than I should have. But even today, teams in NASCAR are using it for engineering. It's pretty crazy what AI has become, and hopefully it doesn't take over our world. No promises. 10. What is a time in your life you felt was really challenging, but you were proud of the way you responded to it? In 2014, I was 8 or 9 and I was racing go-karts, and I flipped twice in one day in go-karts, which is unheard of. And I told my dad: 'I want to quit. I want to be done. I don't want to do this anymore.' Looking back on it today, I am glad he didn't let me and pushed me to get through it. That was one of the toughest times for me. For six to eight months, every race where if I qualified up front, I would pull over and start in the back and I'd let everyone go. I was a complete scaredy cat. Looking back on it now, if I had quit, I wouldn't be here right now. It's pretty crazy to think about that and realize one decision could have changed my whole life. I'm glad that I never gave up on it. So you flip, and then everybody's like, 'Oh, that's such a fluke. You're not gonna do it again.' Then you went out and do it again? I was in middle school at the time, and Nike Elite socks were a big thing. And I told my dad, 'If I flip again, you have to buy me three pairs of Nike Elite socks.' He was like, 'You're not gonna flip again, but OK, I'll take that bet.' And what do you know? I flip again and I got my socks, but I also wanted to quit with that. It taught me a lot about overcoming problems. And it's funny because a year later, I flipped again and then went through the same thing again. It was really tough on me. But I'm glad younger me didn't give up. Advertisement 11. What needs to happen in NASCAR to take the sport to the next level of popularity? We need to cater to younger fans is one of the big things. This fan base, if you look at it, it's a lot of people who have been watching the sport for a long time and it's harder to bring younger fans in. Some of the ads you watch, it doesn't catch the eye of a kid or a teenager. That's one thing (NASCAR senior vice president) Ben Kennedy is really trying to do, and I respect that about what he's doing. With the sport in his hands, it will go a long way. We have to make more stars out of our sport. We don't push them and make them the storyline. People want to know about the drivers — the good, the bad, their lives, everything. The Netflix show was a step in the right direction, but we have to push these superstars and give them storylines. 12. Each week, I ask a driver to give me a question for the next interview. As I mentioned earlier, the last one was with Chase Briscoe and he has two more for you. First, he wants to know if you realize how similar your autographs are. I haven't seen them next to each other, but I guess I'll have to go look. The second thing is what's it like to be 18 and already be considered one of the greatest drivers out there? He said he can't wrap his head around it. That's cool Chase said that. I try and think about and realize what my life is like, but it's so hard for me to understand because it's all I really know at this point. But every day I sit back and think, 'Man, this is crazy. I'm 18 and I'm going to race in the Cup Series this year.' It's just wild to think about how crazy of a turn my life has taken in the last two years. … I'm really grateful for it and it's a lot of luck; right place at the right time. (Trackhouse Racing owner) Justin Marks taking a chance on me at a young age and giving me an opportunity to go race ARCA and then go race Xfinity. I'm lucky to have a lot of the right people around me. 12. Do you have a question I can ask the next person? I don't know who it is yet, so you can either give a generic question or wait to give a specific one. (Zilisch said he wanted to make it specific for the next person.) GO DEEPER NASCAR has put itself in a caution-flag conundrum with last-lap inconsistencies (Top photo of Connor Zilisch during practice for the Xfinity race at Daytona International Speedway earlier this month: Sean Gardner / Getty Images)
Yahoo
29-01-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Recapping a Thrilling 2025 Rolex 24 at Daytona
The calendar start to the new year may be January 1, but for the motorsports fans on the Car and Driver team, the real beginning for 2025 arrived with the green flag for the IMSA Rolex 24 at Daytona. Daytona is the first chance we have to see the year's endurance cars for both IMSA and WEC, which means it acts as an introduction to any major rule changes, new teams, and new drivers that might end up making news later in the year at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. There were no major shakeups in cars or classes for 2025. This year's race featured the same four classes as 2024, with the hybrid GTP prototypes in the top class, the spec LMP2 prototypes below, and then the two production sports-car classes, GTD Pro and GTD. There were some shakeups in teams, though, with big names like Ganassi missing from the Cadillac cars and dozens of new driver lineups, although there were plenty of familiar names, including several former Formula 1 racers including Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean. Two Car and Driver staffers attended: senior features editor Elana Scherr (that's me) and social media editor Carter Fry, who was at Daytona for his very first time. We got together to compare notes and ran into Michael Aaron, who has the 24-hour-long title of senior content and social media strategist for Hearst Autos, which means he covers projects for C/D, Road & Track, and Autoweek. Aaron had his R&T hat on for the weekend, but he kindly agreed to share some of his experience with us as well. The conversation went something like this. Elana Scherr: Okay, so Carter, it's your first time at the Daytona 24? But Mike, you've been before. I can't remember how many times I've covered it, more than five, but I think less than 10. Carter Fry: This was my first time at Daytona at all, let alone the Daytona 24. The only other race I've ever been to was the United States GP in 2023 and a random Sprint Car race. Mike Aaron: I went in 2020 right before the pandemic, and I've been to Formula 1 races and one other IMSA sprint race, but no other endurance races. [This is obvious angling for a Le Mans invite by Mr. Aaron–Ed.] Elana: Anything stand out or surprise you? I feel like no matter how many times I come to a race, I still learn something new or notice something I never saw on previous visits. This year I learned that Bill France Jr. (whose father founded NASCAR and the Daytona International Speedway) was a huge fan of hot dogs, so much so that in the race control tower, there is a little hot dog rotisserie with a plaque dedicated to him. I also learned, during a ridealong with Mazda MX-5 Cup racer Sally Mott, that if you're racing nose to tail in a train of MX-5 Miatas, you have to look through the windshield of the leading car, in a kind of Miata tunnel vision. Carter: I've watched previous Rolex 24s and generally knew the vibe of the race before I got there. Something I didn't realize was all the people camped out in the grandstands. I think that's pretty cool. I also didn't know Daytona was right next to the airport so not only did I get to watch cars race, but I also got to do some plane spotting. And the grandstands are built facing east, so morning brings a beautiful sunrise. I was on Acura's trip with lounge access and the best seat in the house as the most contentious turns of the track—Turns 1 and 6—are in clear view. It was especially fun being with Acura executives during the last few hours as Tom Blomqvist chased down the Porsche Penskes and finished with a P2. It was champagne for all and handshakes aplenty. Mike: I was expecting to have a good time watching tons of racing and catching up with some friends, and it ended up being even more than that. The racing was really great and the last couple of hours were action packed, to say the least. I was rooting for AO's #77 Porsche 911 GT3 R, aka "Rexy." They were leading for 150 laps of the GTD Pro class, but things ultimately didn't end up going their way. I was able to do way more than I thought I would, including talking with serious racing legends. Elana: Oh, let's come back to racing legends, but on the topic of Rexy, I spent a bunch of time in the media room and was trying to convince the IMSA officials to make an all-dinosaur livery rule so that they all have toothy wraps like Rexy. It's such a cool idea. I think they did it initially for kids but I talked to adults who were super crushed they hadn't managed to score Rexy merch before it sold out. It's sort of a throwback to when racing paint schemes were fun, like the pink pig, or the Jungle Jim Funny Car. Carter: We were all rooting for Rexy the whole race and were very pleased with their performance throughout the night. They managed to go from 33rd to first and stay there until morning but started to unravel with a brake rotor issue and then the front bumper was ripped off at the end, dropping them to eighth. Elana: There was a lot of bodywork shedding at the end. That last hour was edge-of-your-seat good. How did you guys spend your other 23 hours? Carter: I got to explore Acura's pit tent before the race, as well as the HRC trailer, which was complete with a coffee machine serving HRC-branded coffee. We went on one hot lap in the Integra Type S pace car, a car with 105 miles on the odometer at the time. I also had a chance to climb the flag tower on Friday. Boy, is it nerve-wracking climbing up and down a ladder with cars going 150-plus mph 20 feet from you. I took a trip to the infield Saturday night with a couple of the other journalists with Acura and found out a ticket for the Ferris wheel costs $8! It's also cash only, in case you're planning to go next year. Mike: I went for a hot lap ride in a BMW M3 Competition. It was a blast. Those hot laps really give you some good perspective on how technical and difficult the track is. It also gives you a small taste of the speeds and g-forces they're experiencing (for just a single lap), while they're doing it for hundreds. The feeling of driving on a banked track also never gets old. I also got to visit race control, which I think you did too. That was one of my favorite parts of the weekend. I love the logistics behind big races like this, so seeing race control up close and getting a group tour was eye-opening. Race control essentially ensures the race runs smoothly and makes sure the rules are followed by all competitors. Former racing driver Scott Pruett was there helping make calls on racing incidents, and he gave us some really good insights into how race control looks at each racing incident as well as monitors the entire race. They're able to punch in a time code and see every camera view of an incident as well as telemetry data. Then they watch it back frame by frame from many different views to make calls and decide whether something was a true racing incident or if rules were broken and penalties need to be doled out. Elana: I did get to see that too and it was so cool! It's like a NASA (the space one, not the car-racing one) control room, all packed with screens showing every possible angle and in-car and overhead. It's new tech too, comes from F1, and is way more detailed than what they were using last year. While I was there, one of the monitors was trying to figure out who had knocked down her camera on pit lane, and then the big crash happened and everyone jumped into action reporting stopped cars and tracking the off-course spins. It was impressive, and I'd like to do more of a deep dive on how it works at another race. Did either of you stay up all night? Mike: I left the track around midnight. Yeah, call me a wimp. Carter: I successfully stayed awake for the entire race. Sitting outside with 102 decibels of motorsport did the trick. As well as plenty of coffee and Red Bull. I will never be doing that again. In fact, I woke up at 8:00 Saturday morning and did not sleep until 9:30 Sunday night. By about 6:00 a.m. on Sunday I started to have unwilling dips in and out of consciousness. My eyelids would droop, conversations around seem would to get louder and streams of thought began to become more visual. I pulled my chin up and cracked open another Red Bull. Did you stay up all night? Elana: [laughs] No, I am old. I mean, I am, but also I have stayed up all night at many races now, and while I recommend doing it once at Daytona, if only to have the magical experience of watching the sun rise over the race in the morning, I think there are other events that are more action packed for an all-nighter. I need to save my waning energy for Le Mans or Nürburgring or Baja. Hey Mike, earlier you said you got some racing legends time. Who did you talk with? Mike: Hurley Haywood, Tom Kristensen, and Jamie Chadwick! Hurley, five-time 24 Hours of Daytona winner, talked with us about the race as a whole and how much it has evolved since he last won in '91. He said he prefers the analog racing days to this new technology-filled era of racing. The amount of control you have over the car through the buttons on the steering wheel and engineers in your ear at all times, there's a lot more to worry about then when he was racing. Tom Kristensen gave us a tour of the pits and discussed endurance racing tactics and strategy as well as rules and regulations. Although he has never raced in the 24 Hours of Daytona, he is a veteran endurance racer holding the record for most wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with nine wins. Jamie Chadwick, three-time W series champion, was Grand Marshal for the race. She joined us briefly in the Rolex suite and talked about how male-dominated racing is and her desire to get more female drivers into higher levels of racing. She also talked about how different single-seat racing is from the more team-based endurance series. Elana: That's a rad lineup. I got to listen in on a Kevin Magnussen BMW interview before the race where he talked about how Daytona being the first race of the season is like "when they let the cows into the grass on the first day of spring, they get wild." I think we really saw that toward the end of the race when everyone was taking turns three-wide and banging into each other like NASCAR racers. It was a really exciting finish. Mike: The GTD Pro Corvette and BMW brawl. Tommy Milner throwing the bird at 180 mph while the BMW served its penalty was just hilarious. Especially since on the opposite end of the spectrum the FIA just tightened their rules on cursing or critiquing the FIA for the 2025 Formula 1 season. Elana: Milner just released a T-shirt with that image on it, and the proceeds go to a bird sanctuary! And there you have it, the year has officially begun. The 2025 Rolex 24 at Daytona was won by Porsche Penske Motorsport, claiming the overall and Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class in the #7 Porsche 963 (below) driven by Felipe Nasr, Nick Tandy, and Laurens Vanthoor. Genuinely fun fact: This win makes Tandy the first driver in history to win Le Mans, Spa-Francorchamps, the Nürburgring, and Daytona, all of the major 24-hour races. Tower Motorsports took the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) win with the No. 8 ORECA LMP2 07 driven by Sebastien Bourdais, John Farano, Sebastian Alvarez, and Job Van Uitert. [UPDATE: The LMP2 team failed post race inspection and the win is being given to the second place finisher. The No. 22 United Autosports ORECA LMP2 07 will be named the winner in the category] Ford made amends for a dismal 2024 Daytona by claiming victory in the Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) class with the No. 65 Ford Multimatic Motorsports Ford Mustang GT3. The Ford was driven by Christopher Mies, Frederic Vervisch, and Dennis Olsen, who said during the post-race interviews that the BMW-Corvette battle made all the difference. "They were faster," said Olsen, "but when I saw them starting fighting, I just ran away." Chevrolet still got a trophy and a watch this year, as the Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) win went to the No. 13 Corvette Z06 GT3.R driven by Matt Bell, Orey Fidani, Lars Kern, and Marvin Kirchhoefer. And now, time for a nap. You Might Also Like Car and Driver's 10 Best Cars through the Decades How to Buy or Lease a New Car Lightning Lap Legends: Chevrolet Camaro vs. Ford Mustang!
