Connor Zilisch comes clean on NASCAR Cup debut after wreck with teammate Daniel Suarez 

Connor Zilisch took to X to make his feelings known about the misfortunes in his NASCAR Cup Series debut. The 18-year-old driver seemed pitiful about the DNF at Circuit of the Americas, especially considering he had a fast car.

For the uninitiated, Zilisch exited the race on lap 50 after colliding with Trackhouse Racing teammate Daniel Suarez off turn 19. Suarez created a cloud of smoke while spinning out of the track, which made it almost impossible for the young driver to avoid the wreck.

Describing his race on the social media platform, Connor Zilisch wrote:

"Man…🫠car was so dang fast too."

Driving the one-off No. 87 Chevrolet Camaro entry, the North Carolina native started the road course race 14th. He was one of the favorites along with teammate Shane van Gisbergen, but the lap 50 incident spoiled his chance to showcase his capabilities.

But, Connor Zilisch at least walked out of the Texas race weekend with his first win of the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series season.

Connor Zilisch won the 2025 Focused Health 250 at COTA - Source: Imagn

The race-ending wreck also stained Red Bull's return to NASCAR. Red Bull, an energy drink company that has found success in racing series including Formula 1, left the stock car racing league in 2011 amid underwhelming race results.

Red Bull will return to the premier series with SVG for five races, starting on March 16 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

For now, the NASCAR grid gears up for the next race weekend at Phoenix Raceway. Zilisch is set to enter his fourth race as a full-time rookie driver, piloting the No. 88 Chevrolet Camaro SS for JR Motorsports.

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"It was too late to do anything": Connor Zilisch on collision with Daniel Suarez

Connor Zilisch shared his perspective before making a race-ending contact with Daniel Suarez. The young driver said he couldn't see the No. 99 Chevrolet Camaro due to the cloud of smoke, calling the incident an "unfortunate way" to end his NASCAR Cup Series debut.

After he was cleared out of the infield care center, the Chevy pilot stated:

“Yeah, all I saw was a cloud of smoke, and by the time I saw him, it was way too late to do anything."

The Trackhouse development driver initially saw Suarez spinning off to the left. He moved to the right to avoid the wreck but the No. 99 Chevy crashed in his direction.

“I saw him spinning off to the left, and I thought he was going to keep going in that direction or stay there. And I guess he flipped back right and started coming towards me," he added.

Zilisch concluded by saying:

“So, yeah, really unfortunate way to end, you know, 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 felt really good about our car. We made a lot of gains from practice and qualifying and just unfortunate way to end it.”

While Connor Zilisch and Daniel Suarez settled with DNFs, Trackhouse Racing drivers Shane van Gisbergen and Ross Chastain finished sixth and 12th, respectively.