Connor Zilisch

In that race, Zilisch needed to finish at least 3 spots ahead of Jared Thomas to win the $250K championship prize and on track he did that, finishing 6th to Thomas' 9th place finish, however a post-race penalty to Alex Bachoura (who finished in between Zilisch and Thomas) ended up moving Thomas up one position and handing him the championship.

Zilisch won $85K for second place and was also named the Mazda MX-5 Cup Rookie of the Year for 2022.

In June 2022 Zilisch would make his Pro Late Model debut in the No. 4 for Setzer Racing and Development at Orange County Speedway with the Carolina Pro Late Model Series where he would win the pole, and led all the laps en route to his first career victory in an Asphalt Late Model overall and Pro Late Model.

For 2023 Zilisch would return to the No. 25 for Rackley WAR running select events in the CARS Pro Late Model Tour.

He would win at Ace Speedway in his 2nd start of the season holding off Caden Kvapil to do so.

In 2022 Zilisch began racing late model cars to prepare him for a potential path to NASCAR.

He would start to run Late Model Stock Cars in the No. 57 for Carroll Speedshop.

He would score 2 wins on the year both coming at Hickory Motor Speedway as well as 2 other podium positions.

For 2023 Zilisch would return to the No. 57 for Carroll Speedshop on a part-time basis in the CARS Late Model Stock Car Tour.

At Hickory Motor Speedway during the Throwback 276 in 2023 Zilisch would run a throwback to the No. 98 Dogecoin car driven in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2014 by his current driver coach Josh Wise.

On August 14, 2023, it was announced Zilisch would make his ARCA Menards Series debut in the No. 28 for Pinnacle Racing Group at that weekend's race at Watkins Glen.

Zilisch qualified 2nd behind Corey LaJoie and then went on to dominate the race, leading 34 out of the races 42 laps, and barely lost the race after getting moved in the final corner of the final lap from the lead by Jesse Love going on to still finish 2nd doing all this despite an ill handling car all race with a broken front sway bar.

On January 11, 2024, Zilisch signed a multi-year contract with Trackhouse Racing as a developmental driver.

His developmental program in 2024 and 2025 consists of races in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, as well as ARCA, CARS Tour, Trans-Am, and IMSA.

Zilisch, when not driving himself, is a driver coach to younger drivers in the Karting ranks.

He was announced as a client of KHI Management in 2021, but subsequently parted ways with the company in early 2023.

Zilisch is half-Canadian.

Zilisch's mother, Janice Kerr, was a gymnast on the Canadian women's national artistic gymnastics team and a member of the 1983 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships tenth-place team.

She was the NCAA Southeast Region all-around champion in 1987 and 1988.

At the SCCA Run-offs in Indianapolis that year, Zilisch finished 3rd out of ~ 90 cars in the competitive Spec Miata class and shortly thereafter was named the SCCA Jim Fitzgerald Rookie of the Year.

Zilisch also competed in the Mazda MX-5 Cup Shootout competition, in late 2021, winning the $110,000 scholarship which would fund his participation in the series in 2022.

In late 2021 Zilisch also ran his first Trans Am TA2 race at Virginia International Raceway earning pole position while shattering the track record as a rookie driver.

He led the race early until a mechanical issue forced him to retire early, however, his performance in the race led to his being invited to race TA2 full-time for Silver Hare Racing in 2022.

In the Mazda MX-5 Cup series, Zilisch recorded 4 wins on the season and nearly won the championship in the last race of the season at Road Atlanta.

Kerr was named the Southeastern Conference H. Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 1990, one of only 4 Florida Gators to have won the award.

(key) ( Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led. )

(key) ( Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led. )

(key) ( Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led. ** – All laps led. )

(key)

(key) ( Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led. ** – All laps led. )

(key)(Races in bold indicate pole position. Races in italics indicate fastest race lap in class. Results are overall/class)

Connor Zilisch (born July 22, 2006) is an American professional stock car racing driver and driver coach.

He competes part-time in the ARCA Menards Series, driving the No. 28 Chevrolet SS for Pinnacle Racing Group, part-time in the CARS Late Model Stock Tour, driving the Nos.

57 and 98 Chevrolet Camaro's for Carroll Speedshop, part-time in the CARS Pro Late Model Tour, driving the No. 25 Chevrolet SS for Rackley WAR, full-time in the SCCA Trans-Am Series presented by Pirelli, in the No. 7 Chevrolet Camaro for Silver Hare Racing, and part-time in the Mazda MX-5 Cup, in the No. 72 Mazda MX-5 for Hixon Motor Sports.

Zilisch started competing in go-karts at the age of 5 in 2011.

He would spend 10 years racing karts before moving up to cars in 2021.

Zilisch karted primarily in the United States until 2017 when he won the Mini Rok World Championship in South Garda, Italy competing against more than 160 other competitors from 33 different countries.

He returned to Europe to race primarily in the FIA OKJ class in 2018–2020 and made the "A" final in the OKJ World Championship in both 2019 and 2020.

In 2020 he also became the first ever American to win the CIK-FIA Karting Academy Trophy, a three race series where competitors from all over the world all race on identical equipment.

Zilisch began racing cars in early 2021 with the Sports Car Club of America in the Spec Miata class and quickly began showing strong results, setting 3 track records and reaching the podium multiple times.