AUSTIN, Tex. – Connor Zilisch’s logic was inescapable. He doesn’t know what to expect from his NASCAR Cup Series debut on Sunday, so how can he have expectations?
“Yeah, it’s hard to set expectations when you haven’t done it before, right?” said Zilisch, who will wheel the No. 87 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet at Circuit of the Americas in his maiden voyage in NASCAR’s premier division.
“The car is new. I’m racing against probably 25 drivers I’ve never raced against before. Yeah, there’s a lot of variables that I just don’t know. So for me, setting expectations is really tough, right?
“I don’t want to set a goal of, you know, I want to go out and finish top five, and then I get a speeding penalty or my pit crew has a loose tire and I finish 15th because of something out of my doing, right? Because then I’ll be upset that I didn’t meet my goal.”
However, it’s not as if Zilisch is traveling into the complete unknown. In Friday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series qualifying on the newly configured 2.4-mile “national” course at COTA, he won the pole.
Ross Chastain and defending Cup race winner William Byron, both pulling double duty this weekend, were the only drivers within a second of Zilisch’s pole-winning time.
And though Zilisch won his first Xfinity Series race in his first start last year at Watkins Glen, he’s taking a large step up in class on Sunday.
“For me, my expectation is I expect to be reasonably fast,” he said. “I don’t want to say that I’m going to be really fast, but I do expect to not be way off on speed. But the biggest thing is going to be execution on Sunday and making the most of the race and not making mistakes. If the pit road speed is 50, expect me to be doing 48, right?
“I’m not going to be pushing the limit. I just want to take it easy and make sure I run all the laps and don’t get a penalty. That’s going to be the biggest thing when it comes to the race. But I feel like when it comes to speed, I feel confident in myself that I’ll be able to run fast enough laps to be at the front.”
To get to the front on Sunday, Zilisch will have to advance from the 14th starting position he earned during Saturday’s time trials.
Source: Reid Spencer | NASCAR Wire Service
