MOORESVILLE, N.C. (Feb. 14, 2025) – Connor Zilisch is set to embark on his rookie season in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, and the rising young star will have a veteran mentor at his back as he enters his first full season behind the wheel in NASCAR.
Mardy Lindley, who guided Sam Mayer to the cusp of the series title in 2024 after a playoff berth in 2023, will be atop the pit box for the 19-year-old driver’s first foray into a full 33-race schedule in one of the most competitive series in the sport.
Zilisch, who won his series debut last season with a masterful performance at Watkins Glen, is in good hands with the veteran Lindley, who sees the 2025 season as a chance to catch lightning in a bottle.
88 TEAM ROSTER: Crew chief: Mardy Lindley; Lead Engineer: Aedan McHugh; Second Engineer: Tanner Naumann; Car Chief: Pat Martin; Mechanic: James Craig; Mechanic: Kyle Stevens; Spotter: Josh Williams; Truck Driver: Brian Salas.
TEAM CHEMISTRY: Lindley is a veteran crew chief with tons of experience in the sport, and he’s also used to bringing promising young drivers along given the season just past with Sam Mayer and others. That’s the mission for 2025 with Zilisch, who has a bright future in the sport and has already won at the Xfinity Series level. Still, young drivers are young, and Lindley’s philosophy echoes that. “It all looks good on paper, but you still have to perform,” he said. “The Rockingham test went fairly decently. We all know Connor’s got speed and a lot of high expectations around him. There will be some struggles experience-wise, and there will be highs because of his experience on road courses. The goal is the same: make it to the Final Four and win the championship and win as many races as we can.”
TALENT BEHIND THE WHEEL: “He is savvy, intelligent and a quick learner,” Lindley said of his young driver. “You only have to tell him something once and that goes a long way in this sport. From the sim work he’s done and his comments on it to working on the car, that has helped bridged the gap. He’s been around JRM, has some races here, so it’s not all new to him. He’s been around a lot of good people and that shortens his learning curve a lot. With him having some Cup races, especially if they go well, it’s just going to boost his confidence. I’ll say it again, when you write it on paper it has the potential to be really good.”
QUICK LEARNER: “Connor was a top-five car the whole time in speed at the Rockingham test and a top-two car there the first day,” Lindley said of Zilisch. “He struggled a little on the second day but that was on our part, not his. It’s a tight track. There’s been a tremendous amount of simulator work starting back right after Phoenix until now, and that’s been a big plus. He covered a lot of ground at tracks he hasn’t been to, and that was encouraging. When you step back and look at it, it looks like we can be successful and we’re hopeful it’s going to be.”
POTENTIAL SHINES THROUGH: The 33-race NXS schedule throws a lot at teams and drivers, and the young driver will see new tracks quite a bit this year, Lindley said. “He’ll run well at Bristol, had a strong race at Kansas last year, and I think Las Vegas and Charlotte and all those places will show strong for him,” he said. “He’ll be really good at Iowa and Gateway too. He’s going to be good anywhere. The thing we don’t want to have happen is, he gets in a big wreck at Daytona early or something. We don’t need anything slowing the bus down. It can happen. Sam took a huge hit last year at Daytona, and it can be a setback, especially for someone who has never experienced it.”
CONTINUITY: Team members often change from season to season in the series, and Lindley’s team turned over one of the engineering spots from last year. The new engineer, Tanner Naumann, came from Niece Motorsports to take the second slot behind lead Aedan McHugh. The spotter also changed, with Josh Williams calling the races for Zilisch. “Tanner came from Niece and he’s switched on, he’s going to be good for us. Brian Salas, our truck driver, does a great job too. Everyone seems to understand each other and get along well. That’s the key to these teams. Everyone is pulling the rope the same direction, buying in and believing in the process, and that’s a huge part of being successful. We have the team to do it.”
TITLE HOPES: Lindley and this team (as the No. 1) were in the thick of the championship battle with Mayer until the end last year, so he knows what to expect. “This year’s group has the same task, Lindley said. “The championship is a bonus, and the ultimate goal is to win it. We have a rookie driver coming in who is going to some of these tracks for the first time. We’re a bridge for Connor, so the goal for us is to do the very best job for him that we can and teach him the most about getting him ready for the next step. If we win a bunch of races along the way and win the championship at the end of the year, that’s a bonus.”