October 29, 2021 – The latest recipient of the Mazda MX-5 Cup Shootout Scholarship, Connor Zilisch, will make his series debut in the final two rounds of the Idemitsu Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by BFGoodrich® Tires at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.

Fresh off his big win, Zilisch will get his first taste of Idemitsu Mazda MX-5 Cup racing, November 10 – 12. For his debut, Zilisch has chosen to race under the Hixon Motor Sports banner.

“I wanted to race the final race of the season to get seat time and prepare for next year,” Zilisch said. “I’ll be racing the full season next year, and I think it is very beneficial to have some prior experience before Daytona.”

Zilisch is new on the sports car scene, having raced karts since he was four and a half years old. He is now 15 with multiple national karting championships under his belt. He’s been dipping his toe into the Spec Miata and Spec MX-5 waters lately and even finished third at the SCCA National Championship Runoffs this year at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Spec Miata. Luckily, he does already have experience at Road Atlanta already.

“I’ve been to Road Atlanta a few times. Last year the shootout was held there and that was my first time there,” Zilisch said. “Since the Shootout, I’ve raced at Road Atlanta twice. Once in my Spec Miata, and once in my Spec MX-5. This has allowed me to become quite familiar with the track!”

Zilisch will take his first laps as an MX-5 Cup driver, Wednesday, November 10. Race One is slated for 1:15pm ET on Thursday, November 11 and Race Two will go green at 10:05am ET on Friday, November 12. Both races will be streamed live on IMSA.com/tvlive.