Daniel Suarez breaks silence after ‘very disappointing’ incident with teammate Connor Zilisch at COTA

Daniel Suarez apologized to his fellow Trackhouse Racing Cup Series entrant Connor Zilisch for starting a wreck that ended both their races early at COTA on Sunday. Per Jeff Gluck of The Athletic, Suarez walked up to Zilisch after leaving the care center and said, “Sorry bud.”

It all happened during the final stage of the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix. Suarez spun out on lap 50 and caught Zilisch in the mess. Zilisch took the hit and ran straight into the tire barrier in Turn 19.

It was Zilisch’s debut Cup Series race, so a DNF wasn’t something he was looking forward to. Daniel Suarez wasn’t happy about it either.

“Very disappointing. This is not the way I want to talk to you,” he told FOX Sports. “Our car was good. I thought we were going to have a top-five run. I don’t know if we were good enough for the win, but a top-five run for sure, top-seven maybe. And lower pressure, the car is lower, you know it hits everything harder. I just hit the curb, that big section right there, and it spun me out.”

Daniel Suarez had to settle for a 36th-place finish while Zilisch was awarded a P37. But despite everything that went wrong, Zilisch dazzled in his maiden Cup Series attempt.

Since 2005, only six drivers have been able to run more than eight fastest laps in their Cup debut. By the end of Stage 1, Zilisch had already recorded eight fastest laps. He made the top 15 for the first time during Stage 2 and restarted the final stage 14th. But that was the highest he could climb before the mishap ousted him from contention.

Daniel Suarez lets his feelings known after spending two days in his homeland with NASCAR amigos

NASCAR drivers Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell, and Daniel Suarez recently traveled to Mexico City to promote NASCAR’s upcoming race at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, scheduled for Sunday, June 15. Besides checking out the racetrack's premises, the speedsters took part in Lucho Libre (Mexican wrestling) and visited a food truck for some awesome tacos.

The iconic event will mark a new milestone for the NASCAR Cup Series. Races have been held outside of the U.S. in the past, but this is going to be the first points-paying race held internationally in 76 years of racing.

“It was amazing,” Suárez said regarding the trip. “Honestly, I'm on the moon right now with everything that is happening with the Mexico City race, all the media, seeing a lot of local media, national media from Mexico, here, this weekend and obviously last week. A lot (of) people were super excited.”

The historic race will be televised on Amazon Prime from 3 pm ET. Fans can also listen to live radio updates on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.