Being the youngest driver on the field has its toll, and Connor Zilisch seems to be getting the worst of it. Coming from the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series as a 19-year-old champion, there was understandably a lot expected of him. However, he has mostly found himself at the back of the Cup field running for Trackhouse Racing. Heading towards the 10 round at the Talladega Superspeedway, he finds it hard to point out the positives from the team’s performance.

Connor Zilisch reflects on Trackhouse’s performance

“In my position, I feel like I have to look for the positives,” Zilisch said, as he attempted to make the most of the positives from his team’s run so far this season. It is apparent that Zilisch’s lack of experience in the Cup Series could be one of the reasons for his lack of strong performances, but even the most experienced drivers in the Trackhouse garage haven’t managed to extract decent performances.

Ross Chastain has only been marginally better than Zilisch in terms of overall performance, and Shane van Gisbergen, who has quite literally been the team’s savior on road courses, failed to win at COTA against the dominating Toyota. Right now, the entire team combined has only managed to secure two top-5s and three top-10s in nine races.

Despite this, Zilisch is trying his best to remain optimistic within the race shop.

“Being upset and being a Debbie Downer isn’t going to make things better,” he said on the SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “I feel like it’s definitely an opportunity for me to learn a lot. That part of it excites me. It’s obviously not as fun as going out and competing for top 5s every week. But there’s things that I can learn from this, and there’s value to it.”

Trackhouse Racing has never been a dominant force on the field, but its results in the past were somewhat better. This year, especially, has been rather difficult for them, considering the performance Chevrolet has delivered so far this season.

The teams powered by the OEMs have been struggling to finish at the top, including the likes of Hendrick Motorsports, as they have only won a single race until now. Even heading into Talladega, Ford has a much better chance of winning, but Trackhouse drivers are somewhat optimistic for the race.

Chastain expects improved performance from Chevy

There has been a massive commotion regarding Chevrolet’s performance. Even Kyle Larson, the 2022 championship winner, has been struggling to win a race. His crew chief, Cliff Daniels, did reveal that Toyota has been the better performer, but Chevy could be expected to improve in the upcoming races.

In fact, Connor Zilisch’s teammate, Ross Chastain, has similar expectations from the manufacturer.

“Once we get into the draft, no matter how we qualify, it’s equal‑ish. The upgraded Chevy body definitely pushes and gets pushed better. I’m looking forward to Talladega, even knowing I’ll probably end up backwards in the grass at some point,” he said, speaking to the media.

Understandably, there is a lot back in Chevy’s factory that needs focus. The manufacturer had introduced some minor changes to the ZL1 body ahead of this season, but that seems to have had a major impact on their overall performance, and has hampered Zilisch’s anticipated full-time debut.

His performance in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series is still quite competitive. He managed to win at Bristol earlier, running a part-time season for JR Motorsports. So it is quite easy to conclude that there doesn’t seem to be an issue with his racecraft and overall driving. If Chevy does manage to improve its pace at Talladega, and the Trackhouse drivers lock themselves up in a proper draft, then Connor Zilisch might finally bring home a top-10 finish.