Connor Zilisch crashes out of NASCAR Cup Series debut
AUSTIN, Texas — Connor Zilisch will be credited with finishing 37th after crashing out of his NASCAR Cup Series debut but there was much more to it than that.
Zilisch started 14th and couldn’t even survive turn one. Ross Chastain divebombed Chase Elliott inside the top-10, spinning Elliott and causing a stack-up that collected Zilisch, damaging his right-front toe link.
Zilisch pitted and came out 36th. When stage one ended on lap 20 and stage two started a few laps later, he was 30th. He got the better of 10 drivers in the first seven laps of the stage, finding himself in 19th. Another five laps and he was in 14th before pit stops started.
Pit stops went smooth for Zilisch as he maintained his track position and was set to make up more spots in the final 45 laps.
Unfortunately, he had nowhere to go when Trackhouse Racing teammate Daniel Suarez put a wheel in the grass and spun right into Zilisch’s path through the smoke.
“All I saw was a cloud of smoke, and by the time I saw him (Daniel Suarez), it was way too late to do anything. I saw him spinning off to the left and I thought he was going to keep going in that direction or stay there. I guess he flipped back right and he started coming towards me,” Zilisch said.
Zilisch ran eight fastest laps before stage one ended, according to statistician Daniel Cespedes. Since 2005, only six drivers have run eight or more fastest laps in their series debut.
“Really unfortunate way to end my Cup Series debut. We were one of the top-five fastest cars in the second stage there. I went from outside the top-30 to 14th, and I felt really good about our Chevy. We made a lot of gains from practice and qualifying. It’s just an unfortunate way to end it,” he said.
Trackhouse has yet to announce when Zilisch will run in the Cup Series again. He’ll go to Phoenix Raceway for the fourth race of his full-time NASCAR Xfinity Series campaign this season.
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Jonathan Fjeld View All
Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.
A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.
Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick's final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen's stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers' stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.
Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com