Zilisch made Cup Series debut with impressive and fiery weekend at COTA
Connor Zilisch had a fiery NASCAR Cup Series debut.
Literally.
The 18-year-old's impressive weekend at the Circuit of the Americas ended early when he couldn't avoid a spin by Trackhouse Racing teammate Daniel Suarez early in the final stage Sunday.
The collision sent Zilisch hard into the tire barrier and the car caught fire as he climbed out.
It was a frustrating end to an otherwise impressive race for a youngster who hopes to become the youngest winner in Cup Series history. He started 14th, dropped back after early contact with another car, and had worked his way back to the top 15 before the wipeout.
'You did amazing buddy," crew chief Darian Grubb told Zilisch on the team radio. "You did nothing wrong today. You did an incredible job driving way up through there.'
The crash spoiled his race, but Zilisch wasn't about to let it spoil the overall experience of his race weekend. Zilisch won the Xfinity race Saturday and was among the Cup Series practice leaders.
'His race craft is really good for his age,' Trackhouse's Shane van Gisbergen said before the race.
Had Zilisch stayed in Sunday's race, he might have had a chance to push for the win.
'We had a really fast Red Bull Chevrolet," Zilisch said. 'I had so much fun preparing for this event. It was a lot of fun passing a lot of guys I used to watch on TV growing up.'
Zilisch has been pegged as a future star. He has won 16 races across seven different series since 2024, including a class victory at Rolex 24 at Daytona last year.
His Xfinity series win Saturday was his second in that series. He started on pole and was forced to the back because of a pit lane penalty. Then he dominated the field in getting back to the front for the win.
Zilisch is a development driver for Trackhouse. The team has not announced when he will race in the Cup Series again.
'Hopefully, I'll get another chance to do this again," Zilisch said. "I had an absolute blast driving through the field.'
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NBC Sports
an hour ago
- NBC Sports
Good news, bad news for NASCAR Cup teams ahead of Mexico City weekend
The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Mexico City this weekend for its first points race outside the U.S. since 1958. The series will race at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. Drivers will compete on a 15-turn, 2.42-mile course. The frontstretch is 3,937 feet, making it the longest in the series (Pocono's frontstretch is 3,740 feet). Chase Elliott (three wins), Ryan Blaney (two) and Joey Logano (two) have combined to win seven of the last 11 races at a new track for the Cup Series. Here is a look at the good news and bad news for Cup teams heading into Sunday's race at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. 23XI Racing — Good news: Bubba Wallace has scored back-to-back top-10 finishes for the second time this season. … Wallace continues to have the No. 1 pit crew in the series as ranked by Racing Insights. … Tyler Reddick is tied with Kyle Larson for most wins on a road course in the Next Gen car at three. … Reddick's 13 top 10s on road courses in the Next Gen car ranks second to Chris Buescher. Bad news: Reddick has one top-10 finish in the last seven races. … Wallace has three top-10 finishes in 33 road course starts. … Riley Herbst enters the weekend 34th in points. Dustin Long, Front Row Motorsports — Good news: Zane Smith finished a season-best seventh last weekend at Michigan. … Smith has five top-20 results in the last six races. … Noah Gragson finished eighth at COTA earlier this year for his best result on a road course in Cup. … Todd Gilliland finished 10th at COTA, tying his season best. Bad news: Gilliland has qualified 30th or worse in five of the last seven races. … Gragson has finished 27th or worse in each of the last two races. Haas Factory Team — Good news: All three of Cole Custer's top-20 finishes this season have come in the last six races. Bad News: Custer's 35th-place finish at Michigan snapped a streak of seven consecutive top-30 finishes. Hendrick Motorsports — Good news: The organization has won four of the last six races on a road or street course. … Kyle Larson's six road course wins puts him tied for fourth on the all-time list. … Chase Elliott has completed all but one of the 4,231 laps run this season. … Elliott ranks third all-time with seven road course victories. … William Byron has won four of the last seven stages and is averaging 9.3 points per stage in that period. … Byron ranks first for the season in speed and restart rankings, according to Racing Insights. … Alex Bowman has five top 10s, including a win, in his last nine road course starts. Bad news: Bowman has finished 27th or worse in seven of the last nine races, dropping him from third in the points to 13th. … Byron has led 83 or more laps in four races this season but won none of those events. … Larson has two top 10s in his last eight road course starts. … Elliott has two top 10s in the last seven races. Hyak Motorsports — Good news: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has five top-20 finishes in the last six races. Bad news: Stenhouse has fallen from 15th to 20th in the playoff standings in the past two races. … Stenhouse has two top-10 finishes in 43 career Cup road course/street course races. Joe Gibbs Racing — Good news: Denny Hamlin has won three of the last nine races this season. … Hamlin has scored points in nine consecutive stages. … Hamlin said Tuesday on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio that if fiancee Jordan Fish has not delivered their baby boy by the time he has to leave for Mexico later this week, he will skip the race. NASCAR has stated in the past that missing a race for the birth of a child is acceptable and they would grant a playoff waiver in such a case. … Should Denny Hamlin miss Mexico, JGR's reserve driver, Ryan Truex, would drive the No. 11 car. … Christopher Bell won at Circuit of the Americas in the only road course race run so far this season. … Chase Briscoe finished first in passing, according to Racing Insights, earlier this year at COTA. … Briscoe has won the pole for the last three races (Charlotte, Nashville and Michigan). … Christopher Bell has seven top 10s in the last nine races. … Ty Gibbs tied his season-best finish by placing third at Michigan. Bad news: Bell has led 10 laps in the last eight races, a stretch of 2,423 laps. … Gibbs has placed 22nd or worse in four of the last five Cup road course races. Kaulig Racing — Good news: All three of AJ Allmendinger's Cup victories have come on road courses. … Allmendinger has five top 10s in his last eight starts on a road course. … Allmendinger finished second in Mexico City in a Champ Car race in 2005. Bad news: Ty Dillon has not finished better than 15th in 26 road course starts in Cup. Legacy Motor Club — Good news: Erik Jones' 11th-place finish at Michigan gives him four top-15 results in the last five races. Bad news: Jones has no top 10s in his last 13 road course starts. … John Hunter Nemechek's best finish in eight career Cup road course starts is 21st. … Jones has no top 10s in his last 13 road course starts. Richard Childress Racing — Good news: Kyle Busch ranked first in speed, according to Racing Insights, earlier this season at COTA, the only road course race run so far. … Busch's best finish this year is a fifth-place result at COTA. … Busch won the most recent Xfinity race at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in 2008, although that course was a little different from what teams will race this weekend. Bad news: Austin Dillon has never finished better than 10th at a road course race in 40 starts. … Dillon has finished 19th or worse in the last four races. … Kyle Busch fell out of a playoff spot after last weekend's race at Michigan. Rick Ware Racing — Good news: Cody Ware has finished 26th or better in two of the last three races, the first time he's done that this season. Bad news: Ware's best finish in 16 career road course starts in Cup is 24th. 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Spire Motorsports — Good news: Michael McDowell has finished 15th or better in each of the last five road course races. … McDowell won a Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series race in Mexico City in November 2005. … Justin Haley finished second in Chicago in 2023 for his best road/street course result. … Carson Hocevar has scored points in 10 of the last 15 stages. … Hocevar's best finish on a road course is third at Watkins Glen last September. Bad news: McDowell has finished 21st or worse in six of the last eight races this season. Team Penske — Good news: Ryan Blaney has five top-five finishes in the last eight races. … Blaney has four top 10s in his last eight starts on a road course. … Austin Cindric has nine top 10s in 21 career road course starts. Bad news: Blaney has three finishes outside the top 30 in the last eight races. … Joey Logano has five finishes outside the top 10 in the last eight races. … Cindric's Talladega win is his only top-10 finish in the last 10 races. Trackhouse Racing — Good news: Ross Chastain has scored six top-10 finishes in the last nine races. … Chastain has scored all eight of his top-10 finishes this season after starting the race outside the top 15. … Shane van Gisbergen has been the best finishing rookie in three of the last four races. … In the last three road course races, van Gisbergen has finished no worse than seventh. … Daniel Suarez has scored back-to-back top-20 finishes heading into Mexico. Bad news: Suarez has only one top-10 finish in the last 13 road course races. Wood Brothers Racing — Good news: The 169 laps that Josh Berry has led this year is a career high. Bad news: Berry has one top-10 finish since his Las Vegas victory. … Berry has not finished better than 22nd in six Cup road course starts.
Fox Sports
5 hours ago
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Mexican driver Daniel Suarez has all the pressure heading to home race
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"With that being said, I have to protect my space for the competition stuff because if we don't do the competition stuff, everything else, it doesn't really matter. "We have to put a balance on everything. ... [So by] Friday, I can try to focus as much as possible only on racing. I'm going to have still a few things here and there, but for the most part, it is going to be racing." Suarez will have Mexican communication company Telcel on his car. "For many years, I never had a sponsor deal with a company from Mexico because I wasn't racing there," Suarez said. "So right now that we're going to be having an event down there, it opens a whole new world of opportunities and that's great, not just … obviously for me, but for the entire sport." Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass. share
Miami Herald
6 hours ago
- Miami Herald
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