Stock Car Spotlight: Connor Zilisch & Brent Crews

As Jey and I approached this off weekend for the NASCAR Cup Series, we debated on what we should do this week considering there’s no need for power rankings in a week without Cup competition.

I took a look at our master document of ideas and blew the dust off of an old idea from last season that failed to see the light of day: a prospect showcase.

Though Jey and I primarily focus on the NASCAR Cup Series, the other series often put aspiring racers in a position to vault up the development ladder to get into Cup one day, so just as it’s important to cover the stars of today, it is of similar importance to us to cover the stars of tomorrow before they get to the highest level.

We set some parameters prior to this, including limiting the spotlight to 10 drivers, setting caps on the amount of drivers we include from each series, and setting an additional cap for drivers outside the NASCAR national series ladder system (CARS Tour, other late model series, dirt racing, etc.)

Jey and I will be splitting this up across a few different articles that will come out over the next few weeks, so let’s dive into our first pair of promising prospects!

Connor Zilisch – Xfinity Series

Tanner: At just 18 years of age, Connor Zilisch already brings a hefty resume into his NASCAR career. For starters, he claimed class wins in a pair of IMSA crown jewels in the LMP2 category — the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring.

Not only that, the speedy teenager became the first American racer to ever win the CIK-FIA Karting Academy Trophy in 2020, joining the likes of Formula 1 driver Charles Leclerc.

It was his time spent in Europe earning that trophy that caught the eye of NASCAR legend Kevin Harvick.

Harvick brought Zilisch back to his homeland to compete in the stock car ranks. After a few seasons racing in the Mazda MX-5 Cup and Trans-Am, Zilisch moved up to the CARS Tour to race in the Pro Late Model and the Late Model Stock Car divisions where he experienced early successes.

Those successes led to opportunities in the ARCA Menards Series where he nearly earned a win in his first career start at Watkins Glen in late 2023 before being muscled out of the way in the final turn of the final lap by close friend Jesse Love.

Zilisch’s 2024 campaign included the two IMSA class victories, five ARCA wins in eight starts, a Truck Series pole in his debut race at COTA, and pivotally, setting on pole for his Xfinity debut at Watkins Glen.

The North Carolina native collected wins in both stages prior to surviving multiple late restarts and fuel mileage questions to score his first Xfinity Series victory on his debut.

Connor’s sterling lower series record built even more credibility with a win at COTA in the Xfinity Series this season, putting his No. 88 JR Motorsports team into the playoffs.

The very next day, he impressed in his Cup Series debut before getting swept into an accident at the beginning of the final stage that relegated him to dead last.

While he only owns three top-10s in 11 Xfinity starts in 2025, Zilisch claims plenty of poles and stage points to show he’s got speed even if the results aren’t exactly backing up the hype surrounding him.

A hard crash out of the lead on the final lap at Talladega sidelined him for the race at Texas where Cup Series points leader Kyle Larson hopped behind the wheel of the 88 car and wheeled it to victory in Connor’s absence.

For now, Zilisch is linked to a development deal with Trackhouse Racing and Chevrolet. Many in the industry have pointed to Trackhouse driver Daniel Suarez’s expiring contract as a sign that Zilisch could pilot the No. 99 Camaro for Justin Marks’ team as soon as 2026.

Zilisch possesses all the makings of a future Cup champion if he continues to show the speed and rapid improvement that’s gotten him to this point. That said, he’s shown speed in practically every car he’s sat in, so NASCAR may just be a pit stop on his racing journey rather than a place to settle.

Brent Crews – ARCA Menards Series/CARS Tour

Jey: Brent Crews at age 17 owns a list of accomplishments that far exceeds his age.

By second grade, he was already a champion in the United States Pro Kart Series rookie class. At the same time he was tearing up the asphalt, he was tearing up the dirt tracks as well.

Crews quickly navigated his way through the youth ranks and would become the youngest POWRi National Midget Series winner ever at just 13 years old. 

The kid’s accolades are simply absurd, particularly going back-to-back at the SuperNationals in the KA100 junior karting division for 2018 and 2019.

In 2021, he continued his karting dominance by becoming the youngest national champion ever in the KZ Pro Shifter class, but 2022 represented the year the young North Carolinian started to make national headlines.

He signed on to drive for Nitro Motorsports, joining the SCCA Trans-Am TA2 Pro-Am Series. In that series, Brent scored his first pole and victory at Road America that season, becoming the youngest ever winner in that series at just 14 years, three months, and four days old.

The teenager wrapped up that season with three wins and followed it up in 2023 with four wins and a championship, obviously staking claim to the title of youngest champion in the series history.

In late 2023, fans saw Brent make his first two ARCA starts with Venturini Motorsports after getting some late model starts in the CARS Pro Late Model Tour. Not only that, Crews added another “youngest ever” to his ledger by being the youngest driver to qualify for the main event at the hallowed Chili Bowl.

Considering his Trans-Am record, Venturini slid their young racer into the driver’s seat at Watkins Glen where he finished third. As for his second start at the Illinois State Fairgrounds, Crews dominated the event on the dirt track on his way to his first win, becoming the youngest winner in ARCA history.

He followed that performance up in 2024 at the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds, another dirt track, where he would lead wire-to-wire en route to victory.

In January of this year it was announced that Brent would be running a part-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule for Tricon Garage in their No. 1 Toyota Tundra as well as making starts in all three ARCA divisions.

He won at Phoenix in in the ARCA Menards Series after savvily nudging “Butterbean” Queen out of the way in the final corner before winning the ARCA East race at Rockingham handily in April, and as we move forward, the Cup Series field should be on watch because Brent Crews has not shown a single sign of slowing down.

(Top Photo Credit: Mark J. Rebilas/Imagn Images)