An amazing Saturday afternoon for NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Connor Zilisch at Watkins Glen International took an unfortunate and downright frightening turn in the least likely of all places: Victory Lane.
Zilisch had climbed atop his No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet to celebrate his sixth win of the season when he lost his footing. Then, in a split second, he tumbled to the ground.
Thankfully, a potentially catastrophic outcome never materialized. And Zilisch is basically OK (more on this in a second).
Here’s how Zilisch fell, as seen on the live TV broadcast. Just be advised: This one is really hard to watch.
BREAKING: 🚨 NASCAR Driver Connor Zilisch FALLS ON HIS NECK while getting out of his car in victory lane.
Zillich DID NOT get up and was taken by ambulance to the infield care center. pic.twitter.com/vfKn81OsSJ
— E X X ➠A L E R T S (@ExxAlerts) August 9, 2025
Connor Zilisch Gets Good News, Escapes Major Injury As Well-Wishes Pour In
After initially lying motionless on the ground next to his race car, Connor Zilisch had to be placed on a stretcher and transported by ambulance to the Watkins Glen infield care center. He eventually went to a local hospital, where doctors determined he suffered a broken collarbone but no other major injuries.
After being released from the hospital later Saturday, the Xfinity Series rookie from Mooresville, North Carolina posted an encouraging update on social media platform X.
You can check it out for yourself below.
Thank you everybody for reaching out today. I’m out of the hospital and getting better already. Thankfully, CT scans for my head are clear, I just have a broken collarbone. Thankful for all the medics for quick attention and grateful it wasn’t any worse.❤️
— Connor Zilisch (@ConnorZilisch) August 10, 2025
Both before and after the NASCAR world knew Zilisch’s health status, many well-wishes for the young driver circulated via X. Here are just a few of the more notable posts. You’ll almost certainly recognize the names of several folks who chimed in.
— Kyle Busch (@KyleBusch) August 9, 2025
thinking of @ConnorZilisch 🙏
— John Hunter Nemechek (@JHNemechek) August 10, 2025
Praying for @ConnorZilisch
— Todd Bodine (Official) (@Team_Onion) August 9, 2025
That is great news. Glad he is okay that was scary for sure. https://t.co/yfr3XgjJuu
— Michael McDowell (@Mc_Driver) August 10, 2025
Being Banged Up Is Nothing New For Connor Zilisch
While it remains to be seen whether Connor Zilisch will miss any races while nursing his broken collarbone, one thing was immediately clear after his accident on Saturday. It was that Zilisch would not be making his fourth career NASCAR Cup Series start, as originally planned, on Sunday at Watkins Glen.
In fact, Trackhouse Racing — which has essentially loaned Zilisch to JR Motorsports for the 2025 Xfinity Series season — opted to withdraw its race entry altogether.
Check out the team’s official announcement of its last-minute change in plans.
— Trackhouse Racing (@TeamTrackhouse) August 10, 2025
If there’s any good news to be had from all of this (aside from Zilisch not being injured any worse), it might be that the 19-year-old is no stranger to injuries. He’s also accustomed to quickly bouncing back from them.
As recent as May, Zilisch missed the Xfinity Series race at Texas Motor Speedway after suffering a lower back injury in a crash at Talladega Superspeedway. Zilisch ended up being sidelined for just the one event, however. And he finished second upon his return to the seat at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Since then, it’s been almost nothing but good times for Zilisch. He sits atop the Xfinity Series standings after a dominating on-track performance Saturday at Watkins Glen.
Unfortunately, though, the celebration didn’t go nearly as well. But it could have been a whole lot worse.
