Justin Marks isn’t mourning the loss of Connor Zilisch from Trackhouse Racing.
It’s a net loss for the team, no doubt, but the Trackhouse Racing owner isn’t necessarily looking at this as a setback, but instead as an opportunity to open a brand-new chapter for the three-car operation.
Speaking to SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90 on Monday, a mere hours after the official announcement that Zilisch will drive the No. 48 Ally Financial Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, beginning in 2028, Marks talked about Trackhouse’s future and his thoughts on the move.
“Every contract, whether it’s with an employee, a driver, a sponsor, when those contracts come up for renewal, there’s always a chance that the relationship is not going to continue, and this is certainly no different,” Marks said. “I think the fact that it was announced so early is problematic in some ways for us, but in the general context of things, it’s not totally unexpected.”
“People are always looking for opportunities, and in my opinion, any young driver that is trying to make a career in NASCAR, when that driver gets a call from Rick Hendrick, that is not a light moment; that is not a moment where you say no thanks. I mean, you listen to those calls.”
“I’m happy for Connor, I really am; he’s a great kid, that’s why we invested so much money and time in him and gave him an opportunity with Trackhouse, and we have another year and a half to work hard at it.”
Even though he put a lot of time, money, and effort into developing Zilisch into a NASCAR Cup Series-caliber driver and believed he would be driving for Trackhouse Racing for several years, Marks isn’t necessarily viewing this as a setback. Instead, the 45-year-old team owner will have a chance to regroup and find another talented race car driver to carry the Trackhouse branding as the team continues to move forward.
Marks wasn’t blindsided by this news, either. From the moment that Alex Bowman confirmed with Hendrick Motorsports leadership that he’d be retiring next year, Zilisch has been at the top of the wish list for the juggernaut organization, and along the way, as the process matured, both Hendrick and Zilisch were totally transparent with Trackhouse about the situation unfolding.
“There are no setbacks, there’s no headwinds, there’s no setbacks, there’s only opportunities, and at the end of the day I’m really proud of the kid.”
For the next 18 months – during which time the NASCAR Cup Series will be contesting 48 points-paying events – Zilisch will be in the unique “lame-duck” position of knowing he’ll leave the team at the end of 2027. Marks, though, doesn’t think it’ll be a problem within the walls of Trackhouse, seeing how big picture-oriented the organization is.
“I think the challenge lies in making sure the folks around him and his race team and his supporters and people that work for him inside of Trackhouse, that he doesn’t lose those folks, that those guys work hard for him until the very last day,” Marks said. “I say that’s problematic because I think that’s problematic for a lot of other organizations, but I think for ours, we do a good job of talking about the bigger picture – like, there’s always going to be change, we’re six years into this thing nothing is going to last forever – so we just have to motivate them if they need motivation to keep working hard for him.”
“On the team side, we’re as motivated as ever – if Connor came to us and said I’m going to sign a 10-year contract with you, the same objective is in place, and that is to put the No. 88 in a position to succeed. That’s the mandate with Connor in 2027, but what we’re also doing is working hard to put the No. 88 car in a position that when the seat comes up at the end of next year it’s a highly coveted seat in the NASCAR Cup Series and it can attract the best talent on the market and we can have conversations about folks that we’re excited about.”
“I think the lame-duck concept is just an emotional one, it’s a phycological one, if you don’t craft what your mandate is, what you’re trying to solve for every day, in the right way, which for us it’s trying to get Connor in Victory Lane, get a strong 2027 season under it and when he leaves Trackhouse and goes to Hendrick, hopefully my phone rings and we have a lot of options.”
There is currently nothing set in stone for Trackhouse Racing in 2028 – at all.
The No. 88 will be vacant at the end of next year, but the team’s two other drivers, Ross Chastain and Shane Van Gisbergen, are in contract years, and as JosephSrigley.com reported on Monday, should either (or both) look at their options, there would be several interested parties.
Obviously, the process to re-sign drivers is different, but as far as finding their new driver of the No. 88 Chevrolet Camaro in 2028, Marks says that isn’t something they are looking at right now, even though he’s already gotten some phone calls and text messages about it. Instead, they’ll likely wait until this off-season to start tackling the free agent market.
There’s one thing, for sure, though, and Marks made it clear on Monday: charters are not for sale.
“I don’t know where [the rumors of selling a charter] come from; I don’t think downsizing our company is the right thing to do,” Marks said. “There’s correlation, not causation, but there’s correlation to Trackhouse struggling to find speed around the time we expanded to three cars, and I think some people might think maybe three cars is too much for them, or it was too quick for them, and create their own story in their head, and that stuff makes it to [journalists].”
Marks said pretty matter-of-factly on Monday that Trackhouse has sponsorship to run three NASCAR Cup Series entries, and if they downsized, they’d have to turn away sponsors, and in this economy, no race team is in a position to do that, adding that Chevrolet also likes the team’s current size.
“Downsizing the team, I think it probably sends the wrong message.”
Losing an elite talent like Connor Zilisch, in the eyes of some, could show signs of weakness for Trackhouse, but in the mind of Justin Marks, that isn’t the case. All it does is allow the organization to go out and find its next superstar, whoever that may be.
Photo: James Gilbert, Getty Images
