SONOMA, Calif. — Trackhouse Racing’s Connor Zilisch hadn’t had a top-20 finish in the NASCAR Cup Series since coming home 20th at Watkins Glen International back in May.
His spring swoon didn’t end there. Repeated crashes, failures and circumstances in the last month or so held Zilisch to finishes of 37th or worse in four of the last five races prior to Sunday’s (June 28) Toyota Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway.
Turns out a weekend in wine country was exactly what Zilisch needed for a reset.
The NASCAR Cup Series rookie and 2025 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Sonoma winner came home seventh after navigating his way to the front through the better part of stage two. It marked his first career top 10 in the Cup Series.
“It was just a solid day all throughout,” Zilisch said. “I feel like we executed [and] did our job.”
In the leadup to Sonoma, Zilisch had tough times mentally through a lot of those aforementioned crashes. Phrases like, “I don’t even know what to say anymore” and “Sorry, guys,” became commonplace on the radio for the No. 88 team, who have been fixing a lot more fenders and parts than they would’ve liked.
But through the long green flag runs on Sunday, Zilisch was able to dance his way around to the end without incident despite losing some positions down the stretch. He did so despite what was described as a very shaky set of conditions on track amidst high tire wear.
From his 17th starting position, the Cup Series rookie flipped the first stage, giving himself track position while others, such as Ty Gibbs and Christopher Bell, elected to consistently take the points to bolster their regular season standing.
On speed, not pit strategy, Zilisch soared into the top five in the second stage after passing William Byron. He set sail toward Ryan Blaney and Kyle Larson ahead, nabbing Blaney late in the stage before flipping it once again in a mad dash to pit lane.
Into the final stage, for one of the first times in the Cup Series, we got a potential matchup between the Trackhouse teammates with Zilisch lined up beside race winner Shane van Gisbergen. It wouldn’t last too long, though thanks to a caution in turn 3 for contact between Josh Berry and Austin Cindric.
Chase Briscoe nabbed the runner-up position early in the final stage, and ultimately, Zilisch fell out of race-winning contention while the No. 19 set sail to try and take on SVG. Handling and speed fell off for him after the final green flag pit stop.
But in a year full of trying times and situations where confidence could be shattered, Zilisch kept the car in one piece to earn his first Cup top 10. If not for that final green flag run, he might actually have come home fifth or better.
“It was very, very treacherous out there,” Zilisch said. “Rear tires were a big thing today. Definitely struggled [in that last run].”
In the greater scheme of things, the 2026 season remains lost in certain respects for the rookie. Yet it’s still a critical last half of the year of development on tap for him. At the end of the day, Zilisch just needed something good to happen after a stretch of races that would test any team and fan base alike.
Progress isn’t linear, and while no driver is in the business of racing to settle for top 10s, Zilisch has to start somewhere. He did so on Sunday at Sonoma.
Thomas is in his second year covering NASCAR at Frontstretch. A Bay Area NASCAR fan for over 15+ years, he found his love for the sport through Jeff Gordon. He helps manage the 2-Headed Monster Column.
Thomas has enjoyed several trips to Sonoma Raceway in his time and currently covers college athletics in the Bay Area, writing about the California Golden Bears and doing play by play broadcasting.
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