WATCH: Connor Zilisch maiden Cup outing ends prematurely after he got caught up in a wreck

Connor Zilisch's highly-anticipated NASCAR Cup Series debut ended prematurely following a collision with teammate Daniel Suarez. The 18-year-old driver tried to avoid collecting the No. 99 Chevrolet Camaro but to no avail.

On lap 50, Daniel Suarez spun off turn 19, creating a cloud of smoke. Zilisch, driver of the No. 87 car, drove off-track to avoid the wreck but collided with Suarez, sustaining race-ending damage. Fortunately, both Trackhouse Racing drivers were released from the infield care center.

NASCAR took to X (formerly Twitter) to share a 15-second onboard clip of Connor Zilisch's crash at the Circuit of the Americas.

"A tough end to his debut," NASCAR wrote.

Zilisch entered the race as one of the favorites alongside Shane van Gisbergen. He qualified for the 14th starting position ahead of defending COTA winner William Byron.

During the 2025 EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at COTA, the North Carolina native ran a steady race outside the top 10. He finished 31st in stage one and exited the race a few laps before the end of stage two.

Aside from his Cup debut, Connor Zilisch championed Red Bull's return to NASCAR. The race marked Red Bull running again in the stock car racing league after the energy drinks company left in 2011.

Connor Zilisch drives the No. 88 Chevrolet Camaro in the Xfinity Series - Source: Imagn

The youngster may have a disappointing series debut but bagged a win out of the race weekend in Austin, Texas. He took the checkered flag in the Focused Health 250 (Xfinity Series) driving the No. 88 Chevy for JR Motorsports.

---

"Unfortunate way to end it": Connor Zilisch on exiting COTA race early

After Connor Zilisch was released from the infield care center, the 18-year-old spoke about his NASCAR Cup Series debut. Zilisch said he saw Daniel Suarez spinning off to the left, only to find out his teammate crashed to the right.

In a post-race interview with NASCAR, the Chevrolet 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 [...] 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."

Connor Zilisch ended up in 37th position with a DNF, but although he may not have seen the checkered flag, he still felt good about the team's performance at COTA.

"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," he added.

The Trackhouse Racing driver will return to action next week at Phoenix Raceway for the GOVX 200 (Xfinity Series). He is signed as a full-time driver for JR Motorsports alongside Justin Allgaier, Sammy Smith, and Carson Kvapil.