Connor Zilisch wins LMP2 at the Daytona 24 Hours

The kid is 17 and has already won in karts, TransAm (IIRC) some other series I probably forgot about and now has won LMP2 at the 24 Hours of Daytona. Bloody underachiever! :rofl:

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All the young karting guys my boy knows from TSRS were crazy excited in the discord chat as the race was winding down.
Rolex on the first time out. Wow.

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He is a real talent in the seat, I think we all knew that when he went to Europe and cleaned house. I think this LMP2 ride is just the first step towards a great career.

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He looks darn good in pavement oval racing too. Late model stocks, super late models. He can drive anything.

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IIRC he has a development contract with Justin Marks/Trackhouse (yes, that Trackhouse) so I’d imagine we’ll see him driving in a bunch of different series (not just NASCAR) given Marks’ broad racing background.

Lets go, Trackhouse! I’m more a fan of the NASCAR side of racing and had never heard of Connor until the announcement that Trackhouse had picked him up. I got a kick out of his story about taking his watch to the jeweler to get it fitted and them initially telling him it wasn’t real!

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So the kid did it again! Connor Zilisch and ERA Motorsport won the 36 Hours of Florida - 24 Hours of Daytona and 12 Hours of Sebring. Not a bad jump from karts to cars! It wasn’t an easy win since they had to come from the back of the field a couple of times. The bar is set pretty high now! :scream:

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Yay for a karter successfully making jump to cars. Very exciting. :checkered_flag::tada:

I hope he gets a shot at some stuff beyond endurance as well. Good career to be had there for sure, and not shabby drivers, but I’d still love to see what he could do in a formula car or Indycar.

He has a driver development contract with Justin Marks (who is a racer as well as a team owner)/ Trackhouse, I think you’ll be seeing him in all kinds of series, some road racing and some circle track.

From the signing announcement on nascar.com: “Zilisch has extensive racing experience in Trans Am and karting and now begins the path toward stock-car racing development. As part of the agreement, Zilisch’s development program will include select CARS Tour, ARCA Menards Series, Trans Am and IMSA races as well as NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and Xfinity Series starts in 2024 and 2025, according to the press release.”

Plus, he beat the boss in the TransAm race at Virginia International Raceway! From the same press release: “In Trans Am action, Zilisch won five of 13 starts in TA2. The dominant performance he had at VIR against Marks and others marked Zilisch the youngest driver to win a Trans Am race in his first start in the class as well as the first to win races in two different classes in the same weekend.”

He’s gonna be busy!

[Here’s the URL to the full release if anyone wants to read it: https://www.nascar.com/news-media/2024/01/11/trackhouse-racing-connor-zilisch-multiyear-agreement/ ]

Sounds ok, but I’m not sure Transam is a step up from LMP2, and good lord…anything but Nascar, lol.

It’s a different experience… definitely not LMP2 but they are only running the endurance rounds of the IMSA series.

He’s making 4 starts for JR Motorsports in the Xfinity Series this year. NASCAR is clearly his path right now. He had a good interview on the Dale Jr Download Podcast too. Look it up. Bright young kid.

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Yeah, his interviews right after getting out of the car at the finish of the Sebring 12 Hours were pretty polished for his age and experience.

Meanwhile, he puts it on pole at COTA in trucks.

https://www.speedsport.com/nascar/nascar-craftsman-truck-series/zilisch-sets-cota-track-record-during-truck-series-qualifying/

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By 0.7… I think everyone who raced against him in karts knew he was a special talent. That doesn’t always translate to cars, but certainly has for him and I think it’s great he’s driving so many different cars and being good in all of them.

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I’m giving him alien status for now.

Massive lockup at the start. RIP tires. Still got top 5