“You can't buy a Red Bull hat with just the Red Bull logo”: NASCAR star Connor Zilisch explains Red Bull’s strict athlete-only hat rule

Connor Zilisch revealed a sacred rule that Red Bull athletes must follow. The Trackhouse Racing driver shared that the Red Bull hat he wears is unique and cannot be handed to anybody else. Zilisch has been a Red Bull-sponsored athlete since 2024. The energy drink brand served as his primary sponsor when he made his Cup debut last year. His colleague Shane van Gisbergen, a Red Bull athlete, will wear the brand's colors at Echopark Speedway on February 22. In an interview with PRN Live, Connor Zilisch was questioned about his athlete-exclusive Red Bull hat. “Any hat you see with the Red Bull logo on it is only for athletes; like, you can't buy a Red Bull hat with just the Red Bull logo. You can buy hats with the Trackhouse logo or the Red Bull Racing logo," he stated."If you are an athlete and you give a hat to somebody, and you get caught, like, you can get fired," Connor Zilisch added, "and whenever you are at an event or if you're out and about and you see someone with a hat." Unless they've bought a knockoff one off eBay or something, most of the time, they're a professional athlete, and you can relate to and approach them. And they're going to know that we're in a club of only a couple hundred athletes."Connor Zilisch began the 2026 season having graced the podium in the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona. He finished second while driving the No. 31 Cadillac for Whelen Action Express Racing. However, in his 2024 debut, the youthful prodigy had already secured a win in the LMP2 class. Connor Zilisch won the CIK-FIA Karting Academy Trophy while growing up racing go-karts. He has also won in every series he has competed in, including ARCA, Mazda MX-5 Cup, the CARS Tour, Trans-Am, IMSA, and the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series. Cadillac enters Formula 1 this year with veteran drivers such as Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez. With Colton Herta leaving his IndyCar career to land a seat with Cadillac potentially, the same was asked of Zilisch during the Rolex 24 broadcast.“If I have a very successful first few years in NASCAR, it’s not something I would say no to,” he replied.Despite having a 10-win season, Connor Zilisch failed to secure the NOAP championship. The single-race title decider ruined his chances, but the sport is now back to the Chase format with a longer runway to the championship. He commented on the change and stressed that he doesn’t prefer the playoffs.