Connor Zilisch sports a smile and elbow sling at Watkins Glen a day after his nasty fall
After winning Saturday's Xfinity race at the road course, Zilisch took a nasty tumble while attempting a celebratory perch on his No. 88 Chevrolet in celebration. Zilisch, 19, was taken to the hospital and diagnosed with a broken collarbone. Trackhouse Racing withdrew the No. 87 Chevy that he was scheduled to drive in the Cup race Sunday at Watkins Glen.
'First of all, I'm doing OK,' Zilisch said during the USA broadcast of the Cup race. 'Very grateful to be able to walk away from that, and I guess I didn't walk away, but I'm very grateful to be walking today and to just be all right. Thank you to all the medics who took care of me, and everybody who reached out and wished me well. I do appreciate it a lot.'
After his series-high sixth victory, Zilisch realized he was in trouble immediately after the chaos began in victory lane, which typically is a frenzied scene of winning team members cheering and tossing beverages as their driver exits the car.
'Yeah, I was climbing out of the car and obviously the window net was on the door, and as soon as they started spraying water, my foot slipped,' he said. 'And the last thing I remember was being halfway down and falling, so I'm glad it wasn't any worse, and that the collarbone is the extent of the injuries, but hate I couldn't make it to the race today.'
The question now turns to whether Zilisch will be ready in time to race in the next Xfinity race on Aug. 22 at Daytona International Speedway.
'We're still working out with all the doctors to figure out what's going to be the next steps,' Zilisch said.
He already has shown to be a quick healer this season. After a one-race absence at Texas Motor Speedway because of a back injury from a crash at Talladega Superspeedway, Zilisch had posted 11 consecutive top-five finishes and five wins since his return.
He noted that Trackhouse teammate Shane van Gisbergen 'had a place put in once and raced the weekend after. So I don't know if I'll be that quick, but hopefully my young bones will heal fast, and I'll be able to get back in it as soon as possible.'
___
AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
3 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Will the White House actually host a UFC fight next Fourth of July?
UFC CEO Dana White appeared to confirm that UFC will head to the White House next year. Last month, President Donald Trump announced that he wanted the White House to host a UFC match on July 4, 2026, for the country's 250th birthday. 'We're going to have a UFC fight, think of this, on the grounds of the White House,' Trump said, per the BBC. 'We have a lot of land there.' White spoke to The Associated Press this week about the plans for the fight. 'It's absolutely going to happen,' White said. 'Think about that, the 250th birthday of the United States of America, the UFC will be on the White House south lawn live on CBS.' White will meet with the president and his daughter Ivanka on August 28 'to catch up and discuss logistics' for the fight, per AP. 'When he called me and asked me to do it, he said: 'I want Ivanka in the middle of this,'' White said, per BBC. 'So Ivanka reached out to me, and her and I started talking about the possibilities, where it would be and, you know, I put together all the renderings.' In his announcement, the president stated he expects 20,000 to 25,000 spectators to attend, according to ESPN. Several UFC fighters are interested in fighting in the event, per White. 'Everybody wants to fight this fight,' he told Happy Punch. Trump has already attended two UFC events since his inauguration earlier this year. In July, he also spoke with Derrick Lewis on the phone immediately after he won a heavyweight contest, as the Deseret News previously reported. Lewis was still on the phone while he was declared the winner. UFC's billion dollar deal with Paramount White's comments came days after UFC finalized a massive new media rights deal with Paramount. The seven-year deal will go into effect after UFC's current deal with ESPN expires at the end of this year. The deal 'has an average annual value of $1.1 billion,' AP reported. All UFC content will also be available on the network's streaming platform, Paramount+. 'This historic deal with Paramount and CBS is incredible for UFC fans and our athletes. For the first time ever, fans in the U.S. will have access to all UFC content without a pay-per-view model, making it more affordable and accessible to view the greatest fights on a massive platform,' White said on X.
Yahoo
3 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Pro Football Hall of Fame commemorating Cam Little's 70-yard field goal with game-worn Jaguars jersey, cleat
The 70-yard field goal Jacksonville Jaguars kicker Cam Little made last week during a preseason opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers might have not have counted in the NFL record book, but it got his name in Canton. The Pro Football Hall of Fame is commemorating Little's big preseason feat with the cleat he used to accomplish it and the No. 39 jersey he wore while he authored the moment. "Alright, ship it off," Little said while folding his teal Jaguars jersey in a video the team posted to X Wednesday. He added, after packaging his cleat: "It's going to a piece of history, though." Little willed his 70-yard kick over the crossbar in Jacksonville's EverBank Stadium this past Saturday on the final play of the exhibition's first half. It cut the Steelers' lead to 14-9. But the score was an afterthought, and not just because it was a preseason game — mainly because Little just made a field goal that started with the number "7." The current NFL record is owned by former Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker, who made a 66-yarder against the Detroit Lions in 2021. Even though Little didn't technically rewrite it with his right-footed swing last weekend, he was swarmed by his teammates as if he did. Little bested Tucker's mark by 4 yards, sending a message to teams across the league that the Jaguars are a threat to grab three points from their own half of the field. Now in his second year with the team, Little already established himself as a reliable kicker in the league last season when he converted 27-of-29 field goals — including 5 of 6 from more than 50 yards out — and all 27 of his extra points. The Jaguars selected him in the sixth round of the 2024 draft out of Arkansas, where he earned first-team All-SEC honors in 2023. Little is still only 21 years old, and he's already responsible for a display in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Yahoo
3 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Tour Championship now offers official money and richest prize in golf with a $40 million purse
OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP) — The Tour Championship now has the richest individual prize fund in golf with the PGA Tour making the FedEx Cup payoff count as official money for the first time. The total purse is $40 million, with $10 million to the winner. Since the FedEx Cup began in 2007, the bonus pool at the end of the Tour Championship was unofficial money, with part of it deferred. Prize money was eliminated at the Tour Championship when the postseason was reduced from four to three tournaments in 2019, and the FedEx Cup bonus pool increased. With the introduction that year of 'starting strokes" — the No. 1 seed started at 10-under par and had a two-shot lead over the No. 2 seed — whoever won the finale at East Lake won the FedEx Cup and was credited with a PGA Tour title for winning the Tour Championship. In a change this year, the starting strokes were eliminated, and the top 30 players who reach the Tour Championship will all start from scratch like a normal tournament. A PGA Tour spokesperson confirmed Wednesday evening that the $40 million bonus pool will now be official money at East Lake. In another change, the $25 million for winning the FedEx Cup was spread out. Scottie Scheffler received $10 million for leading the FedEx Cup in the regular season, and he will get $5 million for being the No. 1 seed after this week's BMW Championship. That is still part of the bonus pool and will not be official money. But now that the player with lowest score wins the Tour Championship — and FedEx Cup — the $40 million set aside for the top 30 players will be official, with $10 million to the winner. Scheffler leads the money list with $20,362,883. Masters champion Rory McIlroy ($16,156,418) and U.S. Open champion J.J. Spaun ($12,302,222) now will have a mathematical chance of topping Scheffler if they win at East Lake. The runner-up at East Lake gets $5 million in official money, while third place gets $3,705,000. Last place gets $355,000. The last time East Lake had an official purse was in 2018 at $9 million, and Tiger Woods won $1.62 million. Justin Rose won the FedEx Cup without winning a postseason event and got the $10 million bonus. Patrick Cantlay was among several players who liked the change away from starting strokes, and he said winning the Tour Championship — even if a player was at No. 30 — was still worthy of being the FedEx Cup champion. 'I think at this point if you played a whole year and get into the Tour Championship with the guys who have played — the 30 best guys who have played the best all year — and you beat them that week with everything on the line, that's a huge accomplishment,' he said. ___ AP golf:
