Top Dog: Connor Zilisch
Halfway through the season, it is safe to say that Connor Zilisch is having one of the worst rookie seasons in recent memory. Zilisch’s 2026 has been a disappointment, but being a rookie in the NASCAR Cup Series is hard.
Heading into 2026, everyone knew Zilisch’s best opportunities for a good finish would be on the road courses. With an uphill battle at Circuit of the Americas, a chaotic race at Watkins Glen International and a gut-punching DNF at Naval Base Coronado, Sonoma Raceway wasn’t the last chance for the No. 88 team to do well, but it was their best.
Zilisch delivered on Sunday (June 28), receiving some stage points and getting his first-ever Cup Series top-10 finish.
The Climb to the Top
Due to a poor performance at the previous race, Zilisch was in the first qualifying group. We have seen in recent years that the best qualifying times occur with cars that run later due to better track conditions as more cars make laps, so the No. 88 already started the week at a disadvantage. Zilisch was fifth-quickest in his group, but he set the 17th-fastest time overall. Starting mid-pack at a track position-heavy track is a tall task, but in a 110-lap race, drivers have been able to work their way up.
In stage one, the No. 88 chose to flip the stage instead of trying to get stage points, pitting with a few laps to go in the stage, and therefore started top 10 in the second stage.
Within a few laps, the 19-year-old began picking up positions. Ten laps into the run, Zilisch entered the top five. Six laps from the stage end, Zilisch made it to third. The No. 88 pitted with two laps to go in the second stage, but due to other cars pitting and Zilisch’s pace, the team still finished eighth in stage two. The three points they received for their stage finish aren’t much, but when a driver enters a week 34th in the standings, it is something.
Zilisch finished the stage second of the cars that had already pitted, meaning he would start the final stage on the front row, alongside teammate Shane van Gisbergen. Zilisch got away clear in second, but a quick caution set up another restart, where Zilisch dropped to third. He maintained his track position until his final pit stop with 28 laps to go. Zilisch stalled when pulling out of his pit stall, leading to his cool suit getting shut off for the rest of the race. Zilisch remained third once the pit cycle was complete, but he had an exhausting number of laps left with the cool suit turned off.
As the race came to a close, the No. 88 started fading, dropping to fourth with 19 laps to go, fifth with 13 to go, and outside the top five with 10 to go. Zilisch lost another spot, but he began to stabilize his run and was able to maintain a seventh-place finish. After the rough season he has had, that result was much needed.
Looking Ahead
At this point in the season, Zilisch can still mathematically make the Chase, but not realistically. Instead, the rookie still has 18 races left in 2026 to gain experience. While there are no road courses left on the schedule this season, next week’s first race at Chicagoland Speedway with the Next Gen car provides a more level playing field than most weeks. If Trackhouse Racing can take advantage of the circumstances and provide Zilisch with a fast car, the No. 88 could get in a solid run.
With a decent result, Zilisch will now be later in next week’s qualifying order, and thus he has potential to get in a better lap with better track conditions. If the No. 88 team can stay ahead of the eight-ball, they will start further toward the front, and maybe finish there as well.
Even though it came on a road course, Zilisch’s seventh-place finish is a great reminder of his talent. It wasn’t long ago he was dominating in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series. Given some time, Zilisch’s results, both on ovals and on the road, will improve.
Top Dogs of the Lower Series
NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series: Heading into Sonoma, Austin Green was having a miserable 2026 season. In early June, it was announced that Nick Sanchez would replace Green in the No. 87 for select races, meaning Green was no longer able to start every race of the season. With only three finishes in the top 10 before Sonoma and a points position of 24th, Green’s 2026 campaign was nothing short of a struggle. However, Green’s eighth-place run last week at Coronado showed promise and potential heading into Sonoma.
A massive crash in practice Friday (June 26) meant that Green would not only need a backup car, but would also have to start at the rear of the field. Peterson Racing was given Richard Childress Racing’s backup car, and they worked tirelessly to make it race-ready.
From the drop of the green flag, Green picked off cars one-by-one. Through pit strategy and track positioning, the No. 87 team positioned themselves inside the top 10 for the final stage. Green dropped back to 13th during the final run, but due to Taylor Gray running out of fuel in the final turn, Green ultimately finished 12th.
Green may not make the Chase or even finish top 20 in points this season, but his run on Saturday (June 27) gave him and the team a result they deserve. Green is an amazing road course racer, and he got to show it at Sonoma.
Small Team Scheme of the Week
One of the most iconic casino brands in the world, Hard Rock Casino made an agreement to be featured on Front Row Motorsports’ Cup cars and trucks for each race in California to promote Hard Rock’s new Tejon, Calif., location. The paint scheme, ran last week at Coronado by Zane Smith and Chandler Smith, returned at Sonoma on the No. 4 Ford Mustang driven by Noah Gragson.
A purple base with golden lines making way for a light-to dark-to light purple gradient, the livery was glamorous in the Northern California sun.
Gragson’s day was anything but glamorous, however. He got caught up in the only yellow flag-worthy incident of the day and finished 32nd. Still, it was a great livery for a major brand.
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