Connor Zilisch is the new talk of the NASCAR community. The young racing prodigy just logged his ninth win of the season at World Wide Technology Raceway, and with that, bagged the regular season points championship.The victory was special for several reasons, one being that it came on Zilisch’s mom’s birthday, i.e., September 6. While speaking with CW pit reporter Kim Coon after the race, the Xfinity Series rookie wished his mom on her special day.“That's awesome,” Zilisch exclaimed. “Four in a row, I think that's seven in the last eight for our WeatherTech Chevrolet team. It's my mom's birthday today, so happy birthday, Mom. I love you.”With his consecutive victories over the last four weekends, Connor Zilisch tied the series record for back-to-back wins by two-time NASCAR Budweiser Late Model Sportsman Series champion Sam Ard and current Cup Series driver Noah Gragson. Furthermore, his victory in Saturday night’s Nu Way 200 Sauced by Blues Hog was the 16th this year for JR Motorsports, also a record for the Mooresville-based outfit.Connor Zilisch will enter next week’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway with 59 playoff points to his name. Named Food City 300, the 300-lap race will be televised on CW (September 12, 7:30 pm ET) with live radio updates on PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.While things shaped up well for Zilisch, his teammate and former Xfinity Series champion Justin Allgaier’s bid for the regular season championship ended when he got caught in an 11-car pileup following the Lap 135 restart. Allgaier was able to salvage a P28 finish.Connor Zilisch to replace Daniel Suarez at Trackhouse Racing in 2026With Cup Series driver Daniel Suarez vacating his seat at Trackhouse Racing, the Chevy team tapped Connor Zilisch as its newest addition to its Cup Series roster in 2026. Thus ends Suarez’s five-year stint with Trackhouse.For Zilisch, it’s a dream come true. Visibly emotional during his appearance at the Daytona media center, the young racing phenom said,“It's cool. I knew the whole world knew already, but still to be able to say it and have my name next to the word 'Cup Series' is really cool. So, I wasn't going to try and hide from it, but it's just a day that I've been dreaming of for a long time and I'm not going to let that kind of the idea that everybody already knows take away from the moment.”Currently, there is no information about Daniel Suarez’s plans for the 2026 season. As predicted by veteran journalist Jordan Bianchi, the 2016 Xfinity Series champion could drop to a full year in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with Kaulig Racing or JR Motorsports or remain in the Cup Series with Spire Motorsports.