With the news that Alex Bowman plans to retire from full-time NASCAR Cup Series racing following the 2027 season, no time was wasted establishing a favorite to replace him in the No. 48 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. And it's not Corey Day.
It's Connor Zilisch.
Despite sitting 34th in points because the racing gods have decided he's not allowed to finish any races this year without being caught up in someone else's mess, Zilisch hasn't lost one bit of the hype that followed him into NASCAR's top level. And, the way it sounds, the team that found and developed him will only get to keep him for two seasons.
At this point, Justin Marks might as well just close up shop.
Mark it down: Trackhouse's days will be numbered after their great hope predictably abandons them
Only four years ago, Trackhouse Racing was the story of the Cup Series. No team hit the ground running faster with NASCAR's Next Gen car than Marks' second-year operation, which expanded from one to two cars with Ross Chastain joining Daniel Suarez. The former won twice, provided the season's most famous moment at Martinsville Speedway, and came within a few laps of capturing the championship.
It was supposed to be the birth of an organizational dynasty. Marks, the new blood in the ownership fraternity, was going to take it to the Rick Hendricks and Joe Gibbs and Roger Penskes of the world and build his operation into a juggernaut, while doing it all in a bit of an unconventional way from everybody else.
Yeah, so, about that.
The downfall started at Darlington Raceway the following year. Chastain tangled with Kyle Larson while battling for the win, and Hendrick expressed some choice words regarding the Florida driver post-race, hinting at having some conversations with Chevrolet about his reckless nature. Ever so coincidentally, Trackhouse then experienced an immediate drop-off in speed that has become increasingly problematic ever since.
Still, it's no excuse for the team's performance, which outside of Shane van Gisbergen's occasional heroic effort has been nothing short of abysmal in 2026. It's been three years and the field has lapped Trackhouse multiple times over, with no sign of progress on the horizon. That's not because Hendrick stopped sharing data or whatever might have happened behind the scenes. It's because Marks hasn't been able to adapt.
Despite it all, the one thing Trackhouse has had going for them is their ability to find talent behind the wheel. Anyone who hasn't been blinded by recency bias knows how good Chastain is. Van Gisbergen was brought over from New Zealand for a one-off at the Chicago Street Course in 2023, which he remarkably won and ultimately parlayed into a full-time Cup ride by 2025.
And then there's Zilisch.
He was their great hope. The teenage phenom who was supposed to have a Jeff-Gordon-At-Hendrick-like impact on the team in the long run. Even if Trackhouse's struggles caused Chastain or van Gisbergen to bolt for better opportunities, at least they'd have a generational talent to build around for years to come.
Instead, the 20-year-old is the one looking for an immediate way out, and you can't blame him. He needs to escape from that circus before Trackhouse sucks all the promise out of him and turns him into this generation's Casey Atwood. It always seemed likely that he would eventually prove to be too good for his ride, but the thing is he hasn't yet. He's trying to prevent his career from ending before it can even start.
And where does this leave Trackhouse? The writing may be on the wall.
Chastain and van Gisbergen both deserve better. They're both in their mid-30s and can't afford to waste any time. And they've both driven part-time in the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series the past two seasons for Dale Earnhardt Jr., who for many years has toyed with the notion of buying a full-time Cup Series team.
See where this is going?
When (not if) Trackhouse loses Zilisch, the best solution for everybody will be for Marks to sell his operation. A JR Motorsports Cup team would become a direct Hendrick affiliate, which along with Spire Motorsports' alliance would allow Chevrolet to work more cohesively in hopes of catching up to Toyota. Chastain would be able to return to his winning ways and van Gisbergen might even have a shot to find victory lane on an oval.
The Trackhouse party is over. Marks' team is destined to go the way of Stewart-Haas Racing, Michael Waltrip Racing, Evernham Motorsports, Team Red Bull, and every other once-promising organization that died because dysfunctional ownership couldn't keep up. All that's left to hope for is that their high-end talent can be salvaged before it's too late.
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