Connor Zilisch Image
Connor Zilisch Badge, Number 88

Connor

Zilisch

Born: July 22, 2006

Hometown: Mooresville, NC

1Total Wins

3Top 5's

3Top 10's

The NASCAR world is going to see the full-time talents of 18-year-old Connor Zilisch this season with JR Motorsports. As one of the most highly talked about young race car drivers in America, has already shown that he possesses the skills to compete for wins all across the world. Those skills have already produced a victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, coming last season in his JRM debut at Watkins Glen International. Zilisch additionally captured a pole in his first-ever NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race and scored strong victories at the Rolex 24 in Daytona and the Twelve Hours of Sebring – two of the most prestigious sports car races in the world.

Zilisch, a member of Trackhouse Racing's driver development program, will race in the NXS full-time in 2025 and complement that experience with various events throughout the season. Zilisch made four starts with JRM in 2024 and set the NASCAR world buzzing with his performance on the venerable road circuit at Watkins Glen. Starting from the pole, the North Carolina native led 45 of the 90 laps and fought through late-race cautions with a rapidly draining fuel tank to earn the victory. In his three additional starts, Zilisch finished fourth at Kansas Speedway and in the season finale at Phoenix Raceway, adding a 12th-place result at Homestead as well.

Zilisch raced in six events for Spire Motorsports in the NCTS in 2024, winning poles at both Circuit of the Americas and Bristol Motor Speedway. The qualifying effort at COTA was in track-record time (2 minutes, 11.983 seconds) and he finished a season-best fourth at COTA. Zilisch is also an accomplished road racer, having won the 2024 LMP2 class honors at both the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring in the WeatherTech Sportscar Championship. He also became the second-youngest driver to win the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona. He added third-place results at the events at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Road Atlanta.

Zilisch is also a 10-time Trans-Am TA2 class race winner and the 2022 Mazda MX-5 championship runner-up where he also claimed rookie-of-the-year honors. He made his ARCA debut last season at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International where he led 34 of the race's 42 laps before securing an impressive runner-up finish. Zilisch has also made a mark in the Late Model classes, boasting victories in both the Late Model Stock and Pro Late Model ranks of the zMAX CARS Tour with Rackley W.A.R. Racing. The Chevrolet Junior drivers' program protégé made his ARCA debut on the road course at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International last season when he led 34 of the race's 42 laps before finishing second.

Mardy Lindley Image

Mardy

Lindley

Born: July 10, 1972

Hometown: Greenville, SC

7Total Wins

19Top 5's

30Top 10's

Crew chief Mardy Lindley will have a new driver for 2025 as well as a new car number, with Connor Zilisch joining as driver of the No. 88 Chevrolet for JR Motorsports. Lindley, who will begin his 14th season overall and third with JRM, comes over from the No. 1 team after a two-year stint with Sam Mayer. The 53-year-old South Carolina native led Mayer to seven victories, 19 top-five and 30 top-10 finishes in that span, as well as a 2023 appearance in the Championship 4 (third) and a ninth-place points finish in 2024.

In 2025, Lindley will guide Zilisch in his first full-time season in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Zilisch made four starts for JRM in 2024, leading 45 laps and winning in his debut at Watkins Glen International. He added a pair of fourth-place finishes at Kansas Speedway and Phoenix Raceway.

Last season, Lindley engineered three wins, at Texas Motor Speedway, Iowa Speedway and the Charlotte Roval, the latter a must-win triumph to advance to the Round of 8 in the NXS Playoffs. In addition, he guided Mayer to eight top-five and 13 top-10 finishes on the way to a ninth-place finish in series points.

In 2023, his first season in the series and with Mayer, the second-generation racer turned crew chief led young Mayer and the No. 1 team to four wins, 13 top-five and 19 top-10 finishes and the Championship 4 berth at Phoenix Raceway.

In that breakout season for Mayer, Lindley guided the No. 1 team on a mid-season surge that put it squarely in the championship hunt as the 2023 season progressed. After a strong second-place finish at Auto Club Speedway in the second race of the season, Mayer began to push the top five more and more as the year went on.

Lindley helped Mayer to his first career NXS victory in a wild race at Road America in Mayer’s native Wisconsin, clinching a spot in the playoffs, and followed up with wins at Watkins Glen and the Roval at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The latter win pushed Mayer into the next round, and a victory at Homestead-Miami Speedway gave Lindley and the team a chance at the series championship at Phoenix.

His first season in the NXS added to the accomplishments for Lindley’s career, which includes eight seasons in the ARCA Menards and NASCAR K&N Pro Series and three in what is now the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.

The 53-year-old Greenville, S.C. native came to JRM from Kyle Busch Motorsports, where he spent the last two seasons as crew chief on the No. 51 truck. In 2022, Lindley’s machines scored three wins, 10 top-five and 15 top-10 finishes throughout the season with drivers Corey Heim, Kyle Busch and 2022 USAC National Midget Series champion, Buddy Kofoid. Lindley also helped Heim earn two pole positions. In 2021, Lindley led the No. 51 team to three victories, six top-five and eight top-10 efforts.

Lindley’s passion for motorsports began at a young age as he traveled across the country watching his father, Butch Lindley, take racing by the reins. His father was a two-time champion of what is now the NXS in 1977 and 1978, but suffered career-ending injuries in a crash in 1985. After his father’s accident, the younger Lindley continued in motorsports and helped Dale Earnhardt Sr. in 1992 for multiple races.

Lindley was not just a crew chief and mechanic. The second-generation driver had many years of success in the Pro Cup Series as he raced his way to Victory Lane 11 times from 2000 to 2006 and was crowned champion of the series in 2001. In 2008, the South Carolina native landed at Roush Fenway Racing where he helped establish their ARCA team with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. In 2009, he moved up to work with Greg Biffle as a mechanic on the No. 16 in what is now the NASCAR Cup Series for the next three seasons.

Lindley started his crew-chief career in 2012 when he went atop the pit box to call the shots for Bryan Ortiz with REV Racing in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series. The following season, he went on to achieve his first championship as a crew chief with Dylan Kwasniewski in the series. Lindley continued to pile up achievements as the years went on, leading to his teaming with Mayer, the youngest champion in NASCAR history.