One racer who is turning heads in NASCAR and perhaps in motorsports, in general, has got to be the just turned 18, Connor Zilisch. Who can forget his Truck Series debut, where he took the pole position in the Circuit of the Americas?

Zilisch finished that race in fourth place. The credit has to go to Justin Marks and, of course, Kevin Harvick for bringing him into NASCAR. The Trackhouse racer has also impressed NASCAR veteran Dale Earnhardt Jr., who recently signed him for the 2025 season. Only in his first season of NASCAR, he’s already making big waves.

Another man in his awe is ex-Formula One driver Max Papis, who believes that the 18-year-old can have a successful career in Formula One.

Is Connor Zilisch F1 material? Max Papis thinks yes!

What has made the youngster so popular among teams is his consistency and past record. At such a young age, he’s already grabbed multiple wins. At just 16, he made his Pro Late Model debut, where he finished on the pole in the Carolina Pro Late Model Series. Followed by a win at the Hickory Motor Speedway. The very next year, he got four wins in the ARCA Series. His list of victories goes on. Eventually, he got signed by Trackhouse Racing as a developmental racer in Xfinity and Truck. However, it looks like even JR Motorsports just couldn’t stop; now he will drive the number 88 car for them in Xfinity.

The prodigy has many people from different motorsports rooting for him. One among them is Max Papis, who himself has competed in Le Mans 24 Hours, Formula One, and Champ Car and now competes in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series. Papis believes that Connor Zilisch could gain success competing in F1.

In a recent episode of Dale Jr. Download, Max Papis said, “If I have to judge from what I have seen him doing in Karting, I would say that he could have had a future in IndyCar, F1 or open wheel.” What Papis is referring to here is Zilisch’s long Karting career before coming to stock cars and his unfulfilled F1 dream.

How can an 18-year-old already have a long career? Well, because he’s been racing since the age of 5. For a decade (2011-2021), Connor Zilisch was into karting. In 2017, he won the Mini Rok World Championship in South Garda, Italy. During that period, he majorly raced in the FIA OKJ (OK Junior) class.

Later, Connor Zilisch also went on to become the first American to win in 2020; he also became the first-ever American to win the CIK-FIA Karting Academy Trophy. It’s the same one that Ferrais F1 driver Charles Leclerc won in his karting days.

Although Zilisch gets full marks in his karting abilities, other aspects of F1 can be a barrier for him. The first one is probably the money barrier. Formula One is a very expensive sport, and as Connor Zilisch himself mentioned, “nothing worked,” despite him visiting academies throughout Europe!

Formula One racing is completely different from stock racing

Further in the conversation, Papis talks about one challenge the vast difference in both forms of racing. However, he believes that Zilisch, due to his adaptability, wouldn’t be bothered by the difference. Reiterating, he said, “I think Connor racing in the Karting level at the highest level and what that tells you is, that he has the knowledge of extracting the best out of an environment that is very different than stock car racing.”

However, apart from the actual difference in cars, one being super specialized and the other being a slightly modified stock car, there are various aspects of the sport. This is why Max Papis is uncertain of how far Connor Zilisch can go just based on his past karting talents. He said, “Having been in Formula One, I would say that, it’s his destiny and It’s difficult to say how far, he would have gone there because it’s very political it’s very complicated.”

Hopefully, as Papis said, we see Connor Zilisch race at the highest of levels, be it the NASCAR Cup series, IndyCar, or Formula One. The youngster has a long career ahead of him. Where would you like to see him race? Let us know in the comments below.