May 23, 2026; Concord, North Carolina, USA; Trackhouse Racing driver Connor Zilisch (88) during qualifying at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images
May 23, 2026; Concord, North Carolina, USA; Trackhouse Racing driver Connor Zilisch (88) during qualifying at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images
NASCAR's outing at Sonoma has people talking for a lot of reasons, mainly Shane van Gisbergen’s dominant victory. However, Cup Series championship leader Denny Hamlin feels that SVG’s teammate, Connor Zilisch's career-best seventh-place finish is also noteworthy.
On his "Actions Detrimental" podcast, Hamlin discussed the Trackhouse rookie's progress in the Cup Series. He feels that Zilisch could be a serious contender to beat Gisbergen in the next few years.
“About time, right? I mean, that's what we expect from Connor," Hamlin said about the 19-year-old's Sonoma finish. "I thought that we talked about Connor - was it in between seasons where I was like, yeah, he's not going to run with SVG right now in the Cup Series. I think, give it a couple of years, I think he could be a suitor to beat him."
WATKINS GLEN, NY - MAY 10: Connor Zilisch 88 Trackhouse Racing Red Bull Chevrolet drives through the bus stop during the NASCAR, Motorsport, USA Cup Series Go Bowling at the Glen on May 10, 2026, at Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, NY. Photo by Orry Perce/Icon Sportswire AUTO: MAY 10 NASCAR Cup Series Go Bowling at the Glen EDITORIAL USE ONLY Icon2605101927
WATKINS GLEN, NY - MAY 10: Connor Zilisch 88 Trackhouse Racing Red Bull Chevrolet drives through the bus stop during the NASCAR, Motorsport, USA Cup Series Go Bowling at the Glen on May 10, 2026, at Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, NY. Photo by Orry Perce/Icon Sportswire AUTO: MAY 10 NASCAR Cup Series Go Bowling at the Glen EDITORIAL USE ONLY Icon2605101927
Zilisch has had a tough time adapting to the Cup Series in his rookie season. The expectations on him were sky-high after his extraordinary 2025 season in the Xfinity Series, where he won 10 races.
After Sonoma, Denny Hamlin feels Zilisch is where he belongs: among the frontrunners. Elaborating on the rookie's progress, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver further said:
"I thought it was going to be a tall task for him to do it in the Cup Series right now. And he fell right in line with where you would think he would run, and that's inside the top five. He didn't have any, you know, negative restarts, pit strategies, wrecks, things like that. So he finally got the finish he deserved."
Denny Hamlin clearly addresses his incident with Carson Hocevar
On the aforementioned podcast, Denny Hamlin also went into detail about getting spun on Lap 64 of 110 after Carson Hocevar bumped him from behind. The resulting damage to his car required repairs on pit road and eventually led to a 26th-place finish.
Though Hamlin acknowledged that Hocevar could have positioned himself better, he felt there was no malicious intent from the Spire driver.
"I'm four car lengths clear of these guys. What are they doing running to the back of me? Unless they are just ping-ponging off of each other, and they did. They just kept shoving, and unfortunately, I got the worst end of it."
"So yeah, I mean, I think it's always very easy to blame the car directly behind you, and yes, Carson could have done a better job. But I don't think that he came into the corner with reckless abandonment," the No. 11 JGR driver added.
The incident stemmed from a domino effect: Alex Bowman got behind Brad Keselowski, who then got behind Hocevar, and eventually, Hamlin had to bear the brunt of that.
Nonetheless, he overtook Tyler Reddick, who had a worse day with a mechanical issue on his car, for the championship lead.
Read more at Daytona Racing Digest
Written by
Aaradhya Singh
Edited by
Yash Kotak