Justin Marks says he "doesn't want" Connor Zilisch to attempt the Indy 500 in his rookie NASCAR Cup Series season

Connor Zilisch is moving to full-time NASCAR Cup Series racing with Trackhouse Racing in 2026. The 19-year-old driver wishes to attempt the infamous Double, following in the footsteps of legendary NASCAR drivers like John Andretti, Robby Gordon, and Tony Stewart.

However, Trackhouse owner and Connor Zilisch’s soon-to-be boss, Justin Marks, does not want Zilisch to attempt the Double in his rookie season. To this day, only Stewart has been able to complete the Double, which includes running the Coca-Cola 600 and the Indianapolis 500 on the same day.

Even Kyle Larson, the current NASCAR Cup Series champion, attempted the feat twice in 2024 and 2025. But he never completed it. On that note, Marks said (as quoted by Sports Business Journal),

“Watching Larson go through that — it’s dramatic and it’s risky and it can be a little uncomfortable with the timing and all that kind of stuff, so if we decide to do something like that, Connor would certainly be at the top of our list.” “But to do that we have to do it the right way, and I certainly don’t want to do it his rookie year,” he added.

Only five drivers have attempted the Double, starting with John Andretti (1994), followed by Gordon (1997, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004), Stewart (1999, 2001), Kurt Busch (2014), and most recently, Kyle Larson.

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JR Motorsports boss Dale Earnhardt Jr. reflects on Connor Zilisch’s 2025 journey following a heartbreaking championship loss

Connor Zilisch was visibly disappointed after losing the Xfinity Series title to Jesse Love. This year, he was the only rookie besides Carson Kvapil to make the coveted championship race.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., who owns JR Motorsports, didn’t hold back while lauding Zilisch and his No. 88 JR Motorsports team. During a post-race interview at Phoenix last Saturday, the NASCAR Hall of Famer said,

“Our guys worked really hard to do what they did. I’m proud of them. I’m proud of all of our teams for working as hard as they did all year.”

Earnhardt has been in the sport for a long time, both as a driver and a team owner. Which means he is aware of the unforgiving nature of the sport. Reflecting on how Zilisch’s season ended, Earnhardt said,

“I’ve been in this a long time, and you go on the racetrack, you’re gonna be disappointed more often than you’ll be happy. You gotta know what you’re signing up for coming here. This is the possibility of the results. So you certainly have to work harder and try to be in a better position.”

For now, it’s the offseason for Connor Zilisch, who won a series-high 10 races last season with JR Motorsports and captured the regular-season points title as well.

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Edited by Tushhita Barua