Connor Zilisch’s start to his NASCAR Cup Series career hadn’t been ideal heading into the Pennzoil 400 in Las Vegas, and yet another poor performance has left him dejected. By the time the race reached its closing stage, Zilisch was already a lap down at the intermediate track. What followed in Stage 3 poured fuel on the fire and left his run dead in the water.
Advertisement
Running 25th on Lap 211, Zilisch slammed into the rear of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. after the No. 47 car slowed while heading for pit road. The moment caught the Trackhouse Racing driver off guard as Stenhouse checked up in the middle of Turn 4.
Zilisch conveyed the same message over the radio moments after the hit, saying, “There was no signal he was pitting.”
The contact crumpled the nose of Zilisch’s No. 88 Chevrolet and sent the car spinning, bringing out the only caution of the race for cause. He later insisted he never saw Stenhouse wave him by and had no time to dodge once the No. 47 slowed. Reflecting on the run, he said the race never quite fell into place. “Yeah, it was a tough day. We never could fire off great. I feel like we were pretty good in the long run, and we could make ground up.”
“And then any restart, we’d just fall back and lose all the ground we made up. So, yeah, definitely not the best day ever, and then I don’t know what happened.”
Zilisch also revisited the clash with Stenhouse. “With Ricky, he was pitting, and I didn’t see him wave us off or anything. So he just kind of caught the glass prize when he checked up in the middle of the corner. And that kind of ended our day from there,” he said.
Asked whether he could have reacted sooner, the #88 driver admitted the moment happened in the blink of an eye. “I don’t know if I could have reacted a little quicker or what. But, yeah, it just caught me off guard.”
.@ConnorZilisch says he was not aware the No. 47 car was pitting when he made contact. #NASCAR
Presenting Partner: @MyPlaceHotels pic.twitter.com/iFNXPh3Twm— Frontstretch (@Frontstretch) March 16, 2026
Despite the damage, Zilisch stayed on track and crossed the line in 32nd place, three laps down. Stenhouse finished 29th.
For now, after five starts, Zilisch stands 35th in the standings table, with 50 points, carrying an average finish of 27.6. The race also turned into a long afternoon for the rest of the Trackhouse camp. Ross Chastain crossed the line in 17th after a run-in with Daniel Suarez that escalated into a heated exchange on pit road once the race ended.
Meanwhile, Shane van Gisbergen nearly crashed at the end of the first lap, making contact with Chase Briscoe off of turn 4. SVG nearly turned around in front of several cars and after 267 laps, SVG brought the car home in 36th place.
