The big buzz in 2023 was Justin Marks rolling out the red carpet for Shane van Gisbergen with Project 91. And now, SVG has made the big leap across the pond, trading Supercars for the high-octane world of NASCAR. However, it looks like Justin Marks isn’t done playing Fairy Godfather in the racing world yet.

Recently, Trackhouse Racing inked a deal with Connor Zilisch, a young gun with plenty of miles under his belt in Trans Am and karting who is now revving up to start his journey in stock-car racing. It turns out this isn’t a spur-of-the-moment connection; the pair have a bit of history. Zilisch himself spilled the beans, saying that he knew Justin Marks had his eye on him.

Connor Zilisch isn’t shy about being a big admirer of Justin Marks

Under their new deal, Zilisch’s training plan is packed with a mix of CARS Tour, ARCA Menards Series, Trans Am, and IMSA races, plus a splash into the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and Xfinity Series in 2024 and 2025, as the press release spells out. His mastery led him to clinch the Mazda MX-5 Cup scholarship in 2021, snagging 2022 Rookie of the Year and almost topping the standings, not to mention winning four races last season.

In 2023, Connor Zilisch made waves in his ARCA debut at Watkins Glen International, storming out of the gates to lead most of the race, only to be overtaken in the final stretch by the eventual series champ, Jesse Love. He bagged five wins in 13 Trans-Am Series TA2 races with Silver Hare Racing and ruled the roost in the Trans-Am Series TA class race at Virginia International Raceway on October 7.

Chewing the fat on SiriusXM Radio, Zilisch shared, “I’ve known Justin for a good while. He owns track house motorplex, obviously, in Morcel North Carolina, and I kind of grew up racing there. You know, I’d run across him a few times and I’ve gotten to know them well this past year in 2023. He’s been doing the Trans-AM racing that I’ve been doing as well. We ran into each other quite a few times there and then we were teammates at VIR a few months ago.”

He further added, “That kind of went things got serious between me and him and I realized that he took an interest to me and you know. Ever since Trackhouse was created always been a huge fan of what Justin’s done and just the way he’s run his team and the way he’s grown everything. So, to be able to be a part of it and being a piece in it in the next few years is really exciting.”

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Sharing the sentiment, Justin Marks is all in on his new driver, vowing to ensure Zilisch is battle-ready before he steps up to the big leagues.

Trackhouse Racing owner is taking a steady approach with Connor Zilisch

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Zilisch is gearing up to hit the track for the Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway on January 26, where he’ll be part of the Era Motorsport LMP2 team. “I have watched Connor grow from a youngster racing go-karts at the Trackhouse Motorplex to an up-close seat as he beat all of us in the Trans-Am race at VIR (Virginia International Raceway), a few months ago,” shared Trackhouse founder and owner Justin Marks.

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“This kid is an amazing talent who we wanted to be a part of the Trackhouse family. We are going to go slow with Connor and make sure he’s fully prepared as he advances in what we believe will be a long racing career.”