Things can change quickly in NASCAR. One moment, a driver is being lauded as a once-in-a-generation talent, drawing comparisons to legends like Jeff Gordon. A few months later, that same driver can find themselves searching for rhythm and confidence in the garage. Right now, that’s the situation Connor Zilisch finds himself in.

Connor Zilisch is taking a measured approach in his first year in NASCAR

Connor Zilisch, widely touted as the best NASCAR prospect since Jeff Gordon, had a tough start to his rookie NASCAR Cup Series season with Trackhouse Racing.

However, it didn’t take long for the reason behind the hype to become clear. Back in 2025, Zilisch delivered an impressive rookie campaign in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, becoming just the third driver in the series’ history to reach the 10-win mark in a single season.

While critics point out that he was actually behind the wheel for nine of those victories, that tally still ranks among the best single-season performances the series has ever seen. And so, Zilisch has been compared to 4x Cup champion and NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon a couple of times.

But when he was confronted with this comparison, he said, “It’s hard to comprehend, I would say. I think it’s—I don’t know why yet, right? I’ve run, obviously, a lot of races in the lower levels. But to be compared to Jeff Gordon, I feel like you’ve got to do something at this level, and I’ve yet to do that,”

He feels so because, apparently, in the first four races of the season, he has finished 33rd, 30th, 14th, and 29th. With that outcome, Zilisch is currently ranked in 34th place on the points table.

“It’s not what we want, obviously,” he said. “And although it’s early, you still think about it. But it’s a very long season. We’re three races into 36. So, although I’d rather be sitting inside the top 10 and say, ‘It’s good,’ A lot of it’s out of our control.”

The NASCAR rookie claimed that he has run better than what his results and his place in the points table suggest. That said, he insisted on continuing to do his thing, as he hoped for a turnaround of fortunes later in the season.

It is worth mentioning that in his first four races at the Cup level, Jeff Gordon scored two top 5s and one top 10. For Connor Zilisch, though, the only notable result has been one top 20 finish.

Connor Zilisch assesses his own season so far

Sunday’s race at Phoenix Raceway marked Connor Zilisch’s first true oval race in quite some time. His last outing on a traditional oval came a year ago at the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, where he finished 23rd.

Given that six of his 11 career wins in the NASCAR Xfinity Series have come on road courses, it’s only natural that the young driver may need some time to fully adjust to racing on ovals.

During the media availability session ahead of Phoenix, Connor Zilisch was asked where his comfort level with regard to the Next Gen car is currently. The NASCAR rookie remarked that the first three races of the season have been at speedways and a road course.

“Phoenix is the first test of that. It all starts this weekend. I feel like I’ve done a good job at the speedways and last weekend at the road course, but this will really be the telltale of how comfortable I am,” he described.

He added that he’s hopeful of things getting better as the season goes on. However, the rookie finished in 29th place at Phoenix. So do you think the young NASCAR rookie’s season will get better as the year goes on?