Top NASCAR Prospect Says Series Looks Like ‘County Fair’ Compared To Formula 1

NASCAR and Formula 1 are two wildly different auto racing series, and they don’t try to pretend otherwise.

They race different cars, on different tracks, in different countries with a vastly different vibe around the races.

But for Connor Zilitsch, one of NASCAR‘s top prospects, the differences make the American-based stock car series look like small potatoes.

Connor Zilisch Says F1 Makes NASCAR Look Like ‘County Fair’

Zilisch, 17, is somewhat of a racing prodigy.

He won the legendary 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring sports car races in the LMP2 class in his first attempt.

And he’s already signed to a developmental contract with Trackhouse Racing, a NASCAR team owned in part by superstar musician Pitbull.

Zilisch recently spoke Deb Williams of Autoweek about his crazy ascent through the racing world, and his comments may not sit well with some of the higher-ups at NASCAR.

“I went to a F1 race in 2020, and that made us (NASCAR) look like we were going to the county fair, almost,” Zilisch said. “It was crazy how much money goes into every event in F1. I don’t think it’s really possible to do that for us just because … NASCAR isn’t F1. But a lot of the hospitality stuff that they do, making it truly a fan experience, giving the people that are willing to spend that kind of money to come to the races and have that kind of experience, giving them somewhere to go would definitely be helpful.”

Zilisch noted that NASCAR probably couldn’t match an F1 experience even if it wanted to. But he’d still like to see the series try.

“I don’t know the logistics of it all. I don’t know if it’d be possible for us to do—and I doubt it would—but that was definitely an eye-opening experience for me.”

He also took to Twitter to clarify his comments.

But fans still took exception to the comment.

Zilisch isn’t wrong. But at 17 years old, he’s getting a quick lesson in how to choose his words more carefully.