NASCAR star Connor Zilisch opens up on humbling debut Cup Series season

Connor Zilisch has opened up on his difficult first year in the NASCAR Cup Series, after avoiding a fourth straight last-place finish on Sunday at Pocono.

The teenager took the Xfinity Series by storm last year, winning ten races to cement himself as the class of the field – despite suffering a heartbreaking defeat to his close friend Jesse Love in the championship race at Phoenix.

That success has not followed him up to the Cup Series with Trackhouse Racing, with a best finish of 14th through the first 16 races of the season, and just 16th on a non-road course.

Speaking on the Dale Jr Download this week, Zilisch revealed that he was warned about the size of the step up to racing in the Cup Series, and insisted that he's having a good time despite admitting 'sometimes I hate my life inside the car'.

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Zilisch: I love the challenge of Cup Series racing

"It's a whole different ballgame," he told Earnhardt. "Everyone talks about it, right? All my friends who race in the Cup Series joked with me, 'you just wait buddy'.

"I knew coming into this year that it was going to be tough, especially after the three races I did last year, I was like 'yeah, this stuff's no joke'. It's just a whole different level – the teams, the drivers, everything is x10 and way more challenging. I love it, honestly.

"As much as sometimes I hate my life inside the car and just want to get out and be done with the race because we're running so bad, I love the challenge of it, I appreciate how good all the teams and drivers are, it just makes me better as a driver and pushes me as a human to want to be better.

"As frustrating as it gets at times it's a fun challenge for me, and I know that there's light at the end of the tunnel. I've just got to work to get there, and work to get there sooner than later."

Zilisch currently sits 34th out of 35 full-time Cup Series drivers, ahead of only Cody Ware, although the next two races being at street and road courses could give him the chance to finally put together a pair of good results.