Connor Zilisch Suffers Injury After Celebrating Watkins Glen Victory
NASCAR Xfinity Series points leader Connor Zilisch suffered a broken collarbone after a fall in Victory Lane at Watkins Glen International.
After securing his sixth win of the season, Zilisch was attempting to celebrate by climbing onto the roof of his No. 88 Chevrolet. He slipped, apparently catching his left foot in the driver’s side window net, and fell onto the asphalt.
Zilisch, 19, was taken on a stretcher to the track’s medical center and then to a hospital for further evaluation. Two hours later, he posted on X that he had fractured his collarbone and that CT scans showed no head injuries.
Thank you all for reaching out today. I’m out of the hospital and recovering. Grateful to all the doctors for their quick attention and thankful it wasn’t worse.
Zilisch will not be available for the Cup race on Sunday at Watkins Glen. After competing in the Truck and Xfinity series the two previous days at the road course, he was scheduled to complete a triple event by making his fourth Cup appearance this season for Trackhouse Racing.
Trackhouse Racing announced that it would withdraw Zilisch’s No. 87 car from Sunday’s race.The incident occurred after an eventful day for Zilisch, who competes for Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s JR Motorsports team.
After starting from the pole position, Zilisch collided with his teammate Shane van Gisbergen’s car while they were battling for the lead on lap 65. After being pushed from the lead to fifth place on a restart, Zilisch regained first place and led the final four laps.
Zilisch missed a race earlier this season at Texas Motor Speedway after suffering a back injury during a crash at Talladega Superspeedway. Since his return, he has achieved 11 consecutive top-five finishes and five victories.
