Trackhouse Racing prodigy Connor Zilisch claims NASCAR looks like “a county fair” compared to F1

Connor Zilisich reveals the main differnce between attending NASCAR or a Formula 1 race.

Max Verstappen and Conor Zilisch (Via IMAGO)

Connor Zilisch is one of the most promising talents in NASCAR who is currently is part of Trackhouse Racing as a development driver. He is racing full-time in the IMSA LMP2 class and is a championship contender. Zilisch made his NASCAR debut last week at COTA Truck Serie race and even secured the pole position with a record-breaking speed. Recently the driver was asked to lay out his thoughts about his experience as a NASCAR fan and the youngster had some bold statements.

He reckons that NASCAR has a long way to go in terms of improving the fans’ experience and asserted that in comparison to Formula One, the premier open wheel racing series, it feels like a county fair. Conor Zilisch also highlighted the effort and money is put in by F1 to ensure that their fans get the best overall experience in the Paddock.

I went to a F1 race in 2020, and that made us (NASCAR) look like we were going to the county fair, almost, it was crazy how much money goes into every event in F1. I don’t think it’s really possible to do that for us just because … NASCAR isn’t F1. But a lot of the hospitality stuff that they do, making it truly a fan experience, giving the people that are willing to spend that kind of money to come to the races and have that kind of experience, giving them somewhere to go would definitely be helpful.

Connor Zilisch told autoweek.com.

The young driver despite not understanding the analytics and economics behind it, urged the premier stock car racing series to try its best to give its fans a visual spectacle. It’s a big suggestion coming from the youngster as the stock car racing fans are among some of the most passionate in the world and making any changes with a spectacle in mind won’t be easy.

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Connor Zilisch wasn’t a NASCAR fan growing up

While speaking about the differences between the experiences of NASCAR and Formula 1, Connor Zilisch also mentioned the fact that he didn’t watch NASCAR while growing up. The driver spoke about how he was more of an F1 fan during his younger years.

I wasn’t the biggest NASCAR fan growing up, kind of grew up watching Formula 1, and all of the big sports car races. I never was too big of a NASCAR fan until I met Kevin (Harvick) and kind of got a more in-depth sense of the NASCAR community and what it’s like on this side of things in the racing world.

Connor Zilisch said.

It seems, Ex-Stewart Haas Racing driver Kevin Harvick really had a positive impact on Zilisch, making him interested in NASCAR. Now that Trackhouse Racing has made the big investment on him, he won’t probably look elsewhere and if predictions from NASCAR legends such as Dale Earnhardt Jr. is true, he is a big superstar in the making.