Connor Zilisch reveals 1 struggle as NASCAR pro after new COTA track record achieved

Following a runner-up finish in his ARCA Menard’s Series debut last August, Connor Zilisch, the North Carolinian Trackhouse Racing Prospect, has really burst out this season in the NASCAR Truck Series. This youngster’s piping-hot run was on full display in Friday’s qualifying session at the Circuit of the Americas.

However, after the qualifying session, Connor Zilisch came out to rev his mouth with some ‘surprising’ words.

Connor Zilisch sets new COTA track record in NASCAR Truck Series

Connor Zilisch, who was already a highly lauded youngster since last year, kicked off the 2024 calendar year with an impressive feat in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship by clinching a class victory in LMP2 in the 24 Hours of Daytona race. He continued his spectacular form by scoring a class win in last week’s 12 Hours of Sebring.

Fast forward to yesterday, and the 17-year-old American racer really exploded his racing-prowess with an ‘unimaginable’ run in the first laps of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, where he cliched away the pole position.

In Friday’s qualifying session at Circuit of the Americas, Zilisch, driving the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet, topped the leader’s board with a new COTA track record of 2 minutes, 11.983 seconds—almost three-quarters of a second faster than P2-sitter Corey Heim. This fiery run was noticeably faster than the senior racers, bringing out Zilisch’s ‘wow’ factor.

In the post-qualification interview, he revealed his excitement over his ‘record-breaking’ run by quoting, “I’m kind of blown away.

“Gotta hand it all off to Spire Motorsports and the truck that they brought. We had a really fast Chevy today and made my job really easy. Obviously, I’ve still got to go out there and not make mistakes but honestly, I feel like I could have driven that at 95% and still been able to get the pole.”

“It’s definitely not easy, right?” Zilisch said. “I’ve run so many different series and cars but honestly, I think that’s only making me a better race car driver, right?

“We show up here with 15 minutes of practice and not a lot of time, but when I’m going to the truck it’s all new to me,” Connor Zilisch added.

“We’ve had this circled on the calendar for a long time, so yeah, it feels really good to have this starting off well. We got a good starting spot tomorrow, but there’s still a long way to go”, he concluded, reflecting on his good start.

Connor Zilisch talks on mental struggle

In the same interview, Connor Zilisch also expressed his mental struggles in dealing with the huge expectations placed on him, both internally and externally. He revealed that he has been seeking professional help from sports psychologist to handle these stresses at such a young age.

Talking about his mental struggles, he started by saying, “That’s one thing I struggled with, and I actually had to go to a sports psychologist to talk about it. Because I get so nervous and amped up before races that I go out there and just not do my job and completely mess up.”

“So, that’s one thing that I’ve really had to work on the last two years is just not getting too amped up in a situation where I may have confidence or whether or not I don’t have confidence and I’m just nervous,” he told.

“So, that’s a lot when you look at race car drivers. People might not see that, but the mental aspect of it is way bigger than people think. And I’m thankful to have very, very good people around me that made it easy to kind of stay calm,” Zilisch concluded, expressing his gratitude.

Connor Zilisch will again take out his No. 7 Chevrolet Silverado at the Circuit of the Americas track for today’s XPEL 225, which will take place at 1:30 p.m. ET. Can he pull off another ‘fastest lap time’ record in today’s XPEL 225? Or will he succumb to his nerves right before the race? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.