Connor Zilisch is one of the brightest up-and-coming talents in NASCAR, and last weekend he made his Cup Series debut at just 18 years old. With Red Bull sponsorship, he showed speed and was marching his way forward when he was unceremoniously sent careening into the wall. Driving through the smoke of a spinning Daniel Suarez, he slammed into his teammate and just like that, his debut was over after 49 laps.
“Yeah, we had a really fast No. 87 Red Bull Chevrolet,” said Zilisch. “I’ve had so much fun preparing for this event. That second stage, driving from outside the top-30 to 14th, was a lot of fun. I was passing a lot of guys that I used to watch on TV growing up. Hopefully I’ll get the chance to come back and do this again. I had an absolute blast driving through the field, and I wish it didn’t end early.
Officially, Zilisch finished 37th – dead last. But veteran Kyle Busch told Zilisch not to worry, as he quickly fell out of his own Cup debut two decades ago and now has more wins across all three national divisions of NASCAR than any other driver in history.
Your future’s bright, I finished last in my Cup debut too😅 https://t.co/gpwW9m3Z39
— Kyle Busch (@KyleBusch) March 3, 2025
The comments from KB made us wonder how other former prospects performed in their Cup Series debuts. The results might surprise you. There are six active Cup champions in the sport, and only one placed higher than 27th in their debut race...
Kyle Busch – 41st (2004) ... 2x NASCAR Cup Series champion
In one of more disappointing Cup debuts for a future Cup champion, Busch found the wall exiting Turn 4 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (his home track) just three laps into the race while driving for Hendrick Motorsports. A few laps later, he was on pit road for repairs. But the damage was too much and he pulled out of the race after just 11 laps of competition. Before the contact, he was running around 15th on track.
Chase Elliott – 38th (2015) ... 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion
Elliott's debut came at Martinsville Speedway, also driving for Hendrick Motorsports. He spent much of the race in the middle of the pack, but he ended up on the wrong side of a restart stack-up, punching in the nose of his car. They made repairs in the garage before sending him back out on track. He ultimately completed 427 of 500 laps.
Kyle Larson – 37th (2013) ... 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion
Larson made his Cup debut at Charlotte Motor Speedway, driving for Phoenix Racing with support from Chip Ganassi Racing. He impressed everyone watching, driving up inside the top-15 on merit. Unfortunately, the engine expired after 247 of 334 laps, denying us a result that reflected his speed that day.
Joey Logano – 32nd (2008) ... 3x NASCAR Cup Series champion
Called the 'best thing since sliced bread,' Logano made his debut at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (where he would end up getting his first career win just one year later). He actually ran the entire race with no mechanical issues and no incidents, driving a car prepared by Joe Gibbs Racing and finishing three laps down.
Ryan Blaney – 27th (2014) ... 2023 NASCAR Cup Series champion
Blaney's first race came with Team Penske at Kansas Speedway. His debut mired his teammate Logano in many ways, running the entire race without major drama and ending it three laps behind the race leaders.
Brad Keselowski – 19th (2008) ... 2012 NASCAR Cup Series champion
Keselowski had the best showing of any active Cup Series champion still competing full-time today, while driving for Hendrick Motorsports at Texas Motor Speedway. Finishing just ahead ahead of his Hendrick teammate (and at the time, boss in the Xfinity Series) Dale Earnhardt Jr., he scored a top-20 finish, only two laps down.
If we look beyond champions for a moment, Denny Hamlin, who is the most successful driver in NASCAR Cup Series history without a title, still only finished 32nd in his debut race. And of all the full-time drivers currently competing, only two earned top-ten finishes in their first race. Riley Herbst placed tenth in the 2023 Daytona 500, while Shane van Gisbergen (Zilisch's teammate) famously made history when he became the first driver in 60 years to win on debut at the Chicago Street Course in 2023.
The trend continues
But what about the rest of NASCAR history? Surprisingly, the trend of lackluster debuts from future champions continues. NASCAR legends Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon both finished outside the top-30 in their first Cup race. The same goes for Martin Truex Jr., Darrell Waltrip, Bobby Labonte, and Bill Elliott. In fact, only five drivers in entire history of NASCAR (dating back to 1949) have managed to secure a top-ten finish on debut – Matt Kenseth [6th], Tim Flock [5th], Terry Labonte [4th], Red Byron [3rd], and 1989 series champion Rusty Wallace performing better than any other when he earned a runner-up finish in his 1980 debut.
The title for ‘worst’ debut of any driver that went on to become champion unfortunately belongs to Busch, as mentioned, he only completed 11 laps before crashing out of the 2004 Las Vegas race, finishing ahead of the start-and-park entries. But as for the worst result overall — that belongs to three-time Cup Series champion Cale Yarborough, finishing 42nd due a mechanical failure 31 laps into his debut.
And with how well Zilisch was running before the crash, he can be proud of the speed he showcased considering how many of the sport’s greatest drivers performed in their first on-track appearance. There’s no telling if Zilisch will reach the heights of the other names on this list, but many watching and within the sport fully expect him to be the next big thing. And it's worth noting that most didn't come out of the gate swinging, which makes Zilisch's pace at COTA before the race-ending wreck that much more impressive.
For those interested, we included the full list of NASCAR Cup champions and where they finished (from best to worst) in their first career start.
(Fun fact: Lee Petty and his son Richard 'The King' Petty finished in the same position [17th] in their Cup debuts).
Debut finishes of future NASCAR Cup champions
| Driver | Finish |
| Rusty Wallace | 2nd |
| Red Byron | 3rd |
| Terry Labonte | 4th |
| Tim Flock | 5th |
| Matt Kenseth | 6th |
| Ned Jarrett | 11th |
| Buck Baker | 11th |
| Kevin Harvick | 14th |
| Dale Jarrett | 14th |
| Bill Rexford | 14th |
| Joe Weatherly | 16th |
| Richard Petty | 17th |
| Lee Petty | 17th |
| David Pearson | 17th |
| Kurt Busch | 18th |
| Bobby Isaac | 18th |
| Brad Keselowski | 19th |
| Alan Kulwicki | 19th |
| Bobby Allison | 20th |
| Benny Parsons | 21st |
| Dale Earnhardt | 22nd |
| Rex White | 22nd |
| Ryan Blaney | 27th |
| Tony Stewart | 28th |
| Herb Thomas | 29th |
| Jeff Gordon | 31st |
| Joey Logano | 32nd |
| Bill Elliott | 33rd |
| Bobby Labonte | 34th |
| Martin Truex Jr. | 37th |
| Kyle Larson | 37th |
| Darrell Waltrip | 38th |
| Chase Elliott | 38th |
| Jimmie Johnson | 39th |
| Kyle Busch | 41st |
| Cale Yarborough | 42nd |
