The 2026 Cup Series season has not been kind to Connor Zilisch. The Trackhouse Racing driver, who is currently racing in his full-time debut season, has faced a frustrating seven DNFs over the course of his rookie year, the most in the garage. The latest one at Chicagoland was the worst, but he had fans backing him up.

Zilisch could not even complete a lap in the race when Ryan Preece slid in front of him, and Zilisch dodged it only to slip and hit the inside wall. He visited the infield care centre after the wreck, but decided to skip the media obligations, for which he received criticism.

However, Zilisch stood his ground and shared a post on the microblogging site, X: "This sport will knock you down, but it’s up to you to you choose whether or not to stand back up. Head down."

Later, on Tuesday, Zilisch spoke to SiriusXM NASCAR Radio where he opened up about his feelings on the DNF.

"It was definitely a little tough to stomach that," Zilisch said. "It's hard to learn when you don't get to race at all. For me, I feel like making laps is the most important thing. That's kind of been my goal the last few weeks, to make laps and learn and try and figure things out. It's hard to do that when you get involved in a situation like that on Lap 1."

Right now, Zilisch sits 34th in the standings. He did get a breather at Sonoma when he won his first top-10 finish of the season (7th). But the Chicagoland DNF was his fifth in the last seven races.

While experts questioned his mentality, seriousness, and ability to handle criticism, he received fans' support as they rooted for him and showed their support on social media. They showed solidarity for the driver, bringing in the prolonged stretch of bad luck.

Fans react to Connor Zilisch's action on social media

Reacting to it, a fan wrote, "Hang in there, you know it's going to turn around…just need to have that one great outing and the tide will turn!"

Another fan wrote, "You are one strong young man. Some times we don't understand why we get thrown so many gut punches along the way. With all you've been thru this year, you are going to get thru anything, be it in life or racing. Those 🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁are coming for you! Stay strong!"

"God tests the best of it's soldiers
U must be a general in making," another fan wrote.

"Praying for renewal Connor," another fan wrote, praying for a major update on the driver.

Another fan wrote, showing his stance on the driver, "If there are no CZ fans I’m dead. I'm with you my boy."

Read more at the RFK Racing Digest!

Written by

Sabyasachi Biswas

Edited by

Suyashdeep Sason