On Saturday, Connor Zilisch was enjoying his second career NASCAR Xfinity Series win at Texas’ Circuit of The Americas.
Less than 24 hours later, the 18-year-old’s much-anticipated Cup Series debut came to an early end.
Starting from 14th, the Trackhouse Racing driver ran into trouble on the first lap as he was forced to pit due to a flat right front tire. That pinned the driver of the No. 87 Red Bull Chevrolet deep in the field.
He’d claw his way inside the top 15 by the beginning of stage three. However, Zilisch’s good fortune came to a crashing halt as he was unable to avoid his spinning teammate, Daniel Suárez as Zilisch’s No. 87 ricocheted off the No. 99 and into a tire barrier off turn 19.
He’d be unable to continue and finish in last, 37th.
“All I saw was a cloud of smoke, and by the time I saw him it was way too late to do anything,” Zilisch said. “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.
“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.”
Despite a disappointing result, it was a dream come true for the young driver to get his first taste of Cup Series action.
“I’ve had so much fun preparing for this event,” Zilisch said. “That second stage, driving from outside the top-30 to 14th, was a lot of fun. I was passing a lot of guys that I used to watch on TV growing up.
“Hopefully I’ll get the chance to come back and do this again. I had an absolute blast driving through the field, and I wish it didn’t end early.”
