Connor Zilisch spotting for Ross Chastain amid Trackhouse Racing crew shortage in Mexico City

The folks at Trackhouse Racing are working hard to get drivers like Ross Chastain prepared for Sunday’s Mexico City race. Right now, the NASCAR Cup Series organization only has three to four crew members per car, and that means all hands on deck.

As a result of the crew shortage, Connor Zilisch is spotting for Ross Chastain in practice at Mexico City. Brandon McReynolds will be back on the spotter stand for Sunday, don’t worry. To Zilisch’s credit, and Chastain’s, the No. 1 car is P6 in the first practice session with a few minutes remaining.

Zilisch is only 18 years old, but he is a very talented race car driver. When it comes to road course racing, his talents rival those of Shane van Gisbergen and other elite road course racers in the Cup Series.

Today, Zilisch is spotting for the first time ever. He has never done it before. But right now, his Trackhouse team needs him. The young driver is signed to a development deal with the Cup organization and has run part-time this season in a fourth open car for Trackhouse.

This season, Zilisch has a win. It came at COTA in the third week of the season. He is fifth in the Xfinity Series point standings. Maybe he can give Ross Chastain some points and tips on how to get around the Mexico City course.

Then again, Chastain is no slouch on road courses, despite what he may say. He has a Cup Series win at COTA. Last year, Chastain won the pole at Watkins Glen, led the most laps, and finished P4.

Ross Chastain, Trackhouse Racing working with skeleton crew

Unfortunately for a number of teams, drivers and personnel had to wait to show up to Mexico City. Two chartered flights full of NASCAR industry members were held up in Charlotte, causing major delays for teams.

Stephen Doran, crew chief for Shane van Gisbergen, said that Trackhouse has a “skeleton crew.” That might be putting it lightly. To only have three to four crew members for each car today is going to make things incredibly difficult.

The good news is that there is a team of engineers back in Charlotte watching practice and taking in all of the data that they possibly can. By the time the full team gets to Mexico, they are going to know exactly what they need to work on to get these cars right for Sunday.

It doesn’t hurt that Ross Chastain and the Trackhouse drivers will have 75 total minutes of practice today. That goes a long way in a tough weekend like this one. There should be a lot of action and thrills for NASCAR fans this weekend between the Xfinity and Cup Series.