Connor Zilisch to join Hendrick Motorsports, take No. 48 in 2028

NXTbets Pro | Published On: August 17, 2026

Zilisch joins Hendrick

Connor Zilisch has signed a multi-year deal with Hendrick Motorsports and will join the team after the 2027 NASCAR Cup Series season, beginning in 2028. He will take over as the full-time driver of the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet, replacing Alex Bowman, who is set to retire after the 2027 Cup season. Ally will remain the primary sponsor of the car, keeping continuity with one of Hendrick’s established entries while the team makes a long-range change at the wheel. The move gives Hendrick a new full-time driver for a marquee car and marks a major step for Zilisch, who moves from a promising young racer with a growing résumé to a place inside one of NASCAR’s most successful organizations. Hendrick Motorsports said Zilisch is the kind of talent and character the team wants to build around, while Rick Hendrick described him as a gifted young racer and said he believes Zilisch can carry the No. 48 legacy forward.

Zilisch’s Cup start

Zilisch brings that opportunity at age 20, but his first full Cup season with Trackhouse Racing has been a grind. He is 34th in the standings through 24 races and has one top-10 finish to go with eight DNFs. Those numbers show how demanding a full-time Cup schedule can be, even for a driver with obvious upside. They also frame why the Hendrick move matters. The team is betting on the driver behind the results as much as the results themselves. Zilisch has shown he can learn quickly and produce when conditions line up, and Hendrick’s decision points to confidence that the early Cup struggles are part of the development curve rather than a limit on what he can become. For Zilisch, the assignment now is simple. He has to keep building at Trackhouse, steady the Cup results and arrive in 2028 ready to step into the No. 48 without the pressure of proving he belongs in the sport’s top division.

Zilisch’s O’Reilly success

That faith comes from what Zilisch has already done away from Cup. He has 13 wins in 45 career NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series starts, a total that includes 10 victories in 2025 alone. He won his series debut at Watkins Glen in 2024, then followed that with a season that featured eight poles and the regular-season championship with JR Motorsports. Those marks tell the story of a driver who has repeatedly turned speed into results and carried that form across a full schedule. The combination of wins, poles and a championship run gave Hendrick a strong case for making the move now, even with two Cup seasons still ahead before Zilisch climbs into the No. 48. Zilisch called the chance a dream opportunity and said he wants to prove the organization made the right decision. That puts the spotlight on what he does next, first with Trackhouse and then with Hendrick, as the team hands one of its most recognizable cars to a driver it believes can extend its run at the front.