NASCAR star Connor Zilisch got emotional while reflecting on his racing journey thus far, which led him to secure a “dream” Cup Series seat with Trackhouse Racing. He replaces Daniel Suarez in the Red Bull-backed team next year.

Racing for JR Motorsports in the Xfinity Series this year, Connor made headlines by winning eight races thus far, with the most recent one being at the Daytona International Speedway.

Speaking to the media while being seated with General Motors Vice President of Competition, Dr. Eric Warren, and Trackhouse Racing team owner Justin Marks, Connor shared his gratitude to them for the opportunity before breaking down. He said:

“I’m honored to be joined by you two on the stage. You two believed in me before a lot of people did and gave me this opportunity to be sitting here today and have the opportunity to make that jump to the Cup Series.

“So, first of all, thank you to Eric and Justin. I was sitting in the Dick’s parking lot across the street earlier today and just kind of reflecting on the last 15 years of my life and what’s led to this moment and got me to this point. I never thought I would make it anywhere in racing …”

Zilisch then broke down before speaking about the sacrifices made by his parents, and revealed his decision about leaving school. He said:

“My parents have been behind me since day one, through every moment, the good, the bad. There were many times I questioned why I left school, left my friends, to make this commitment to go to the Cup Series and try and chase a dream of racing in motorsports. I never knew what was ahead of me.”

The Xfinity driver then opened up about his dream of racing in the Cup Series. He said:

“I knew the whole world knew already but still to be able to say it and have my name next to the words ‘Cup Series’ is really cool so I wasn’t going to try and hide from it.

“But it’s just a day that I’ve been dreaming about for a long time and I’m not going to let that kind of idea, that everyone already knows, kind of take away from the moment.”

Marks addressed Zilisch’s racing prowess, revealing the moment when he was convinced about investing in the young driver. He said:

“I watched him race at the Trackhouse Motorplex, watched him as he went to Late Models and then Trans-Am, and then got an opportunity to be his teammate in the Trans-Am race at (Virginia International Raceway) just to sort of see how he operates, and he won that race by about 45 seconds over the field.

“It was really kind of that moment that we felt like making an investment in Connor, giving him the tools and the opportunity to develop, was something that we really needed to do at Trackhouse.”