Connor Zilisch will step into a full-time Cup ride with Trackhouse Racing next year, and the team has just announced its new crew chief. They hired Randall Burnett of Richard Childress Racing's No. 8 Chevrolet. It pairs one of NASCAR’s most promising young drivers with an experienced, technically-minded crew chief.Burnett will move from Kyle Busch to lead Zilisch’s Cup program in 2026 as the teenager makes the jump from Xfinity to Cup. Trackhouse has yet to decide on the crew and car number for their third Cup Series seat next season.Who is Connor Zilisch’s crew chief Randall Burnett?Tyler Reddick (8) and crew chief Randall Burnett at Darlington Raceway in 2022. Source: GettyRandall Burnett is a longtime NASCAR engineer-turned-crew-chief. He started his career with Chip Ganassi Racing, spending about a decade there in engineering roles of data acquisition, lead race engineer and 7-post analysis engineer. That technical foundation is one reason he’s respected in the garage.Burnett rose to prominence as a crew chief in the Xfinity Series, most notably guiding Tyler Reddick to the 2019 title (with six wins that season). He then moved up with Reddick to the Cup Series and helped build that program into a consistent front-running unit (playoffs in 2021 and 2022). In 2023, he became Kyle Busch’s crew chief at Richard Childress Racing.Since pairing with Busch, Burnett and Busch have combined for three wins, 15 top-five, and 27 top-10 finishes across 72 races together. The last couple of years have been tougher for the No. 8 RCR entry, with inconsistent results, setup struggles on short tracks, and an extended winless stretch raising questions about team direction.Burnett holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from UNC Charlotte. He lives in Huntersville, North Carolina, with his wife Deanna and their sons, Waylon and Tatum.Connor Zilisch 'stoked to welcome' Randall Burnett to the teamConnor Zilisch and Trackhouse Racing owner Justin Marks at Watkins Glen International. Source: GettyConnor Zilisch’s rise has been fast. Signed into Trackhouse Racing’s development program in January 2024, he won 10 times in 30 Xfinity starts for JR Motorsports and impressed enough in the three Cup outings this year in the No. 87. Trackhouse announced Zilisch as Daniel Suárez’s replacement for next season and has now confirmed Randal Burnett as the crew chief.Zilisch reposted the news on X and wrote:"Stoked to welcome Randall to the team! Can’t wait for next year."Trackhouse Racing will need Burnett’s engineering background and championship experience to help Connor Zilisch adjust to Cup-level setups, pit-stop strategy and traffic management. Trackhouse already fields competitive cars (Ross Chastain and Shane van Gisbergen), so the new No. 99/87 program will aim to avoid the inconsistencies Burnett faced recently at RCR and to hit the ground running in Zilisch’s rookie campaign.Trackhouse has picked an experienced, technically strong crew chief to match a rapidly rising driver. The move signals they want Connor Zilisch to be competitive early and not just learn slowly over a long rookie year.