By Luis Torres, Staff Writer/Photographer
Connor Zilisch’s NASCAR Cup Series debut ended at expense of a disastrous teammate tangle on Lap 50 of Sunday’s EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix.
Zilisch’s Trackhouse Racing teammate Daniel Suarez lost control in Turn 19, causing a chain reaction for drivers to avoid running into him as smoke made visibility difficult for the competition which led to Zilisch’s painstaking downfall.
While their teammate Ross Chastain and Chris Buescher were able to avoid Suarez by going on the right lane, the same couldn’t be said for Zilisch, who broadsided the right side of Suarez, sending Zilisch into the barriers and it was game over.
When the dust settled, Suarez brought his car back into the pits before retiring. Meanwhile Zilisch had to exit his now wounded No. 87 Red Bull Chevrolet and credited with 37th place result.
Over the radio, Zilisch said he couldn’t see anything but smoke. Despite his day ending early, his pit crew, notably crew chief Darian Grubb, was really impressed with his effort. More so after Zilisch had tried working his way towards the front after an earlier incident.
Zilisch POV: pic.twitter.com/4sbpFIJtEP
— American Autosport (@americanautospo) March 2, 2025
“All I saw was a cloud of smoke, and by the time I saw (Suarez), it was way too late to do anything,” Zilisch on the accident. “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.”
Suarez explained that low air pressure can result in losing control which led to his exit from COTA.
“I just hit the curb, hit the ground and then it spun me out,” said Suarez. “When you have low air pressure, that’s very easy to do because the car is lower to the ground. I wish I could say it was a big mistake, but it wasn’t. It was just maybe a tire width too far to the left, and I hit the curb and I spun out.”
The 18-year-old standout arrived at Circuit of the Americas with optimism and fanfare. More so after winning Saturday’s Xfinity Series race as Zilisch hoped to deliver a good result in the 95-lap race.
Entering the race, Zilisch rolled off 14th but as the theme ended up being, stuff out of his control led to chaos. Specifically, at the opening corner of the opening lap.
Zilisch’s teammate Chastain turned Chase Elliott around and resulted in several cars running into each other. Consequently, Zilisch’s Chevrolet was bounced by Ty Gibbs, and it led to his right front tangling onto Michael McDowell, forcing him to pit for repairs.
https://twitter.com/NASCARONFOX/status/1896303527825174603
From there, Zilisch began having a blast driving at the sport’s premiere level as his No. 87 machine was among the fastest cars despite ending Stage 1 in 31st. He reported to Grubb that the lateral grip and low pressure was to his liking, but braking instability and forward drive toward the end of the stage were his concerns.
To fix the instability, Zilisch told Grubb he implemented forward brake bias to where Grubb suggested air pressure adjustments during his next pit stop. Otherwise, the mindset was to reset and rally back after setting strong lap times.
In Stage 2, Zilisch would work his way back into the top-15 after passing Gibbs on Lap 37. Once green flag stops were made, Zilisch ended up 23rd in the second stage and reported zero complaints during the run.
Unfortunately, circumstances out of his control would torpedo a potential top-10 run or even fight for the win like teammate Shane Van Gisbergen did at Chicago in 2023 when he made his Cup debut.
Despite not getting to run the full race, Zilisch enjoyed his time competing with the guys he watched growing up and hopes it’s not the last the series will see of the young standout.
“We had a really fast No. 87 Red Bull Chevrolet. I’ve had so much fun preparing for this event,” said Zilisch. “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.”
Time will tell when Zilisch’s next Cup race will be, but the focus now shifts back to building momentum in his rookie campaign in Xfinity as he’ll race next Saturday at Phoenix Raceway (5 p.m. ET on The CW).
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