Apparently, Hendrick Motorsports has a pretty good idea of where it wants to go next.
The organization announced Monday that Connor Zilisch will take over the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet beginning in 2028 after signing a multi-year agreement with the 15-time NASCAR Cup Series champions.
And if you were expecting Hendrick to spend the next year or so conducting an exhaustive search for Alex Bowman’s replacement, perhaps interviewing drivers, studying spreadsheets and generally behaving like this was a difficult decision, you may want to sit down.
Because the decision appears to have been made.
Bowman announced earlier this month that he will retire from full-time competition at the end of the 2027 season. That left Hendrick with plenty of time to figure out what comes next for one of NASCAR’s most recognizable cars.
Instead, the organization has already handed the keys to Zilisch.
To be fair, this isn’t exactly a case of Hendrick finding some kid wandering around the garage and deciding he looks fast.
Zilisch has been on the NASCAR radar for years, and he has been collecting trophies with the sort of enthusiasm normally reserved for somebody who has just discovered a particularly generous arcade machine.
The 20-year-old Charlotte, North Carolina, native burst onto the national scene in September 2024 when he won his NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series debut at Watkins Glen International. He then followed that up with a spectacular 2025 campaign that included 10 victories, eight poles, 18 consecutive top-five finishes and the regular-season championship.
He even became the first driver in series history to win the regular-season title despite missing a race.
That’s not bad.
In fact, it’s the sort of thing that makes the people running major race teams start clearing space on the office wall.
“Connor is a truly gifted young racer,” said Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports. “His talent behind the wheel is exceptional, but I’m even more impressed by the person he is. When someone with that kind of ability and character becomes available, you do everything you can to bring them into your organization. We have tremendous confidence in Connor, and we believe he’s the right driver to build on the legacy of the No. 48 Ally team for many years to come.”
The interesting part is that Zilisch’s path to the No. 48 has hardly been limited to NASCAR.
He started racing karts at 5 years old and won the FIA Karting Academy Trophy in 2020. After moving into cars in 2021, he proved he could drive pretty much anything with four wheels and an engine, competing successfully in sports cars, Trans-Am and late models before moving through NASCAR’s national ranks.
In 2024, he won his class at both the Rolex 24 At Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring on his first attempts at each race.
Then, less than two months after turning 18, he showed up at Watkins Glen for his first O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race and promptly won it, leading 45 of the 90 laps.
Because apparently finishing second would have been too ordinary.
Through 45 O’Reilly Series starts, Zilisch has 13 victories and 10 poles.
That success led Trackhouse Racing to sign him as a developmental driver and put him in a Cup Series car for three starts in 2025. He moved into the Cup Series full time with Trackhouse in 2026.
The Cup experience, however, has been a rather different animal.
Which is precisely why this move is so fascinating.
Zilisch is still learning the hardest and fastest level of NASCAR competition, and now he knows exactly where he is going. He has until 2028 to figure out how to turn all that raw speed and prodigious talent into the kind of consistency required to survive every Sunday in the Cup Series.
And then he gets one of the biggest jobs in the sport.
The No. 48 isn’t just another number. Jimmie Johnson turned it into a NASCAR institution, winning 83 Cup races and seven championships with the Hendrick team. Bowman then carried it forward, and now Zilisch has been handed the next chapter.
No pressure, then.
“The 2028 season will be the 10th for Ally Financial as the full-season primary sponsor of the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports team,” Hendrick said in the announcement. “The 20-year-old Zilisch is a native of Charlotte, North Carolina, where Ally maintains a large corporate presence.”
Ally is clearly enthusiastic about the next phase.
“We’ve spent nearly a decade investing in the No. 48’s storied legacy alongside Hendrick Motorsports, and handing the wheel to a driver of Connor’s caliber is such an incredible way to begin another historic chapter,” said Andrea Brimmer, Ally’s chief marketing and public relations officer.
“Connor is an unbelievable talent with the motivation to match, and he understands what it means to represent a brand and a fanbase that care deeply about this car. I’m thrilled to welcome him to the Ally Racing family and cannot wait to do great things together on and off the track.”
Zilisch, meanwhile, sounds like somebody who understands exactly how big this opportunity is.
“This is one of those moments you dream about as a kid,” Zilisch said. “Hendrick Motorsports has always represented the standard in our sport, and being entrusted to help continue that legacy means everything to me.”
He added that driving for Rick Hendrick, carrying the Ally colors and competing alongside Hendrick’s stable of elite drivers is exactly what he has worked toward.
Then came the line that will matter most between now and 2028.
“I’m grateful for the confidence they’ve shown in me, and it’s my job to prove they made the right decision.”
That’s the deal.
Hendrick Motorsports has apparently already made its decision.
Now Connor Zilisch gets roughly a year and a half to prove it was the right one.
No pressure, Connor.
Just one of the most famous cars in NASCAR history.
Greg was a writer for DriveTribe supporting Amazon's The Grand Tour and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, and a Masters degree in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek and a regular contributor to Forbes.
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