At the newly reopened Hangar-7 in Salzburg, Austria, 4-time F1 champion Max Verstappen casually dropped a bombshell that’s got NASCAR fans talking. He’d be up for getting in Connor Zilisch’s Red Bull-backed №87 Chevrolet Camaro.
The event was a celebration of Red Bull’s motorsport universe. It had stars like MotoGP legend Dani Pedrosa, 2025 Dakar Rally winner Daniel Sanders and Zilisch all in attendance. In that moment, a reel posted by NASCAR and Team Trackhouse captured a conversation between the NASCAR driver and the F1 driver. Zilisch leaned on his car and asked Verstappen, “You wanna get in?”. Max Verstappen didn’t hesitate: “I mean, I would like to do it.”
Naturally, that was all it took to set social media ablaze. CBS Sports’ Steven Taranto wrote on X, “I lean more towards this being just chit-chat among racers. But part of me wants to say that Trackhouse wouldn’t have posted Max Verstappen expressing interest in getting in a NASCAR car if there wasn’t a sliver of a chance of it actually happening.”
Still, it wouldn’t be a total long shot. Max Verstappen and Conor Zilisch are both Red Bull athletes. With that in mind and with Red Bull returning to NASCAR through Trackhouse, the brand has more reason than ever to make some crossover magic happen.
Zilisch is 18 and already on Trackhouse’s development path. He’s running full-time in the Xfinity Series and set for a few Cup starts this year. The Verstappen link may seem like a pipe dream but it fits his criteria. He said before that anything outside of F1 has to make sense , something competitive, meaningful and not just for show. Trackhouse has already brought in stars like Kimi Räikkönen and Shane van Gisbergen. So, a test with a legit operation with them would check those boxes.
In that context, Max Verstappen stepping into a NASCAR seat could be part of a broader pattern of crossover opportunities that Red Bull, uniquely, is in a position to facilitate.
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