Trackhouse Racing announced Sept. 23 that Randall Burnett will join the organization in 2026 as crew chief for Connor Zilisch, who will begin his full-time NASCAR Cup Series career next season.
Burnett will make the move from his role as crew chief for Kyle Busch’s No. 8 Chevrolet at Richard Childress Racing, which brought him on during the 2017 season. He has six wins in each the Cup Series and Xfinity Series.
With Burnett moving on from Busch after the 2025 season, RCR announced Oct. 1 that crew chief Andy Street will sit atop the box for the No. 8 team for the remainder of the year. Burnett will remain in a support role with the organization until the season concludes.
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The personnel hire by the Justin Marks-founded team locks in another component to what will be Zilisch’s first full season in NASCAR’s top division. Trackhouse formally announced the 19-year-old’s heavily anticipated leap to the Cup Series last month, indicating that the crew-chief pairing, Zilisch’s car number and other personnel alignments would take shape in the coming weeks.
Burnett had previous stops at Chip Ganassi Racing and what’s now called Hyak Motorsports, first as an engineer and later as a crew chief. He spent roughly two and a half seasons with Childress’ Xfinity Series program, winning six races and the championship with Tyler Reddick in 2019.
Burnett and Reddick made the jump to the Cup Series together in 2020. The veteran crew chief remained with RCR’s No. 8 team when Busch replaced Reddick in 2023, and Burnett has three Cup wins with each driver.
Zilisch has been a dominating force in his rookie Xfinity season, winning nine times this year with JR Motorsports. The surge has rocketed Zilisch to the top of the Xfinity Series Playoffs standings, and he has won seven of the last nine events on the circuit.