NASCAR Cup Star Announces Surprise Retirement Timeline
What’s Happening? Despite widespread rumors about his future with the team beyond 2026, NASCAR Cup Series veteran Alex Bowman will return…
The 2027 NASCAR Cup Series Silly Season is coming to a swift end, with many of the major seats already filled for next season.
Still, one of those seats is already at the center of attention for the 2028 season, as last weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Hendrick Motorsports veteran Alex Bowman announced that the 2027 season will be his final full-time year of competition.
What’s Happening? Despite widespread rumors about his future with the team beyond 2026, NASCAR Cup Series veteran Alex Bowman will return…
Though Bowman has well over a year behind the wheel of the No. 48 left, fans and insiders are already hedging their bets on who will take over the car for 2028, with one name leading the charge in most discussions.
That driver is 2025 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series standout, and de facto 2026 NASCAR Cup Series Rookie of the Year, Connor Zilisch, who is under contract at Trackhouse Racing until the end of the 2027 season.
Rumors of Zilisch taking over the No. 48, as early as next season, have been a part of the conversation for some time, though the plan had its complications.
But with Bowman’s return for 2027, that path is a little less obstructed for HMS in the future.
Of course, Trackhouse will still have a chance to re-sign Zilisch, something that team owner Justin Marks addressed during a recent appearance on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
What’s Happening? NASCAR drivers, much like any athletes, have a period of free agency and multi-million dollar contracts. Based on information…
Marks, whose team has developed Zilisch from ARCA to Cup, noted that any team would want Zilisch, saying that “he’s a very talented driver.” Nonetheless, he feels that while 2028 is not that far away, he and his team need to focus on the here and now.
“Connor’s committed to us through the end of 2027,” Marks said. “And 2028, although it’ll be here quickly, is a little too far away for us to really be spending a lot of bandwidth on that at the moment.”
In particular, Marks says that for the sake of the team’s partners, he would like to see Zilisch find victory lane, something that seems like a tall task given the bad luck and even worse finishes the No. 88 team has had so far in the 2026 season.
“What we’re trying to solve for right now is get him the experience, get him comfortable,” Marks said. “We’ve got a great relationship with Red Bull and a lot of our other partners on the Chevrolet that he drives, and it’s important for us to be executing on the agreement and the relationship and partnership that we have now.”
Of course, that doesn’t mean the discussions about Zilisch’s future with the team are off the table, with Marks acknowledging that they will have to approach them aggressively for a driver of Zilisch’s talent.
“I think when it comes time to talk about the future we’ll have that conversation with him knowing that he’s a highly sought-after driver. I think that those conversations around him probably wanna star sooner rather than later. And it’s our job to present ourselves as a place that he wants to be.” — Justin Marks
Given the current struggles of Trackhouse Racing and the opportunity that Hendrick would present to Zilisch, most fans have suggested that it could be open and shut.
While Marks was not defensive about this scenario, he did acknowledge that Connor could choose to leave the team at the conclusion of his contract.
“If that happens and he’s at Trackhouse for a while into the future, great,” Marks said. “If something different happens, then that’s the way it goes. I mean, we’ll all kind of go on and try to be the best that we can be.”
What’s Happening? Thursday, Hendrick Motorsports finally made its move on the No. 48 car, re-signing Alex Bowman to a one-year deal,…
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