NASCAR Enforcing Track Limits at Watkins Glen Could Prevent the Connor Zilisch–Shane van Gisbergen Crash, Amid Others

The Cup Series race at Watkins Glen on Sunday was yet another typical road course event. Shane van Gisbergen emerged as the victor by a huge margin, and the race-watching experience was lackluster to say the least. However, former crew chief and current NBC Sports broadcaster, Steve Letarte, wasn’t disappointed with the lack of action on the track.

Rather, it was seeing the track not being used in the way it was designed that cast his mood down. He explained what he sees as a major issue in NASCAR races on Inside the Race and made a case for why track limits need to be enforced more strictly.

Letarte broke down what he thought was the problem in each part of the track and continued to make a big claim. Acknowledging that he has never driven a lap at the track, he believed he could still analyze the issue.

He said, “I think the Zilisch-SVG wreck, between the last two corners, happened because they left the track. The Austin Hill wreck with Michael McDowell happened off the race track. Now, both could have been avoided. We can talk about who’s at fault. That doesn’t matter to me.”

Nowadays we can’t go to Watkins Glen and not talk track limits.

For me, I think it’s ridiculous to see 85% of the cars not use the racetrack as it was designed.

Agree or disagree?#InsideTheRace #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/GNH04sGvKX

— Steve Letarte (@SteveLetarte) August 11, 2025

Van Gisbergen was blocking aggressively during the Xfinity Series race as Zilisch tried finding a way around him to reach the checkered flag. With 18 laps to go, the drivers clashed, and van Gisbergen went hard into the wall outside of Turn 7. His car even lifted off the ground due to the severity of the impact.

The incident occurred because Zilisch had gone too wide in Turn 6. When he attempted to get back, there wasn’t enough room for him to rejoin safely and he was forced to clip his teammate. The McDowell-Hill incident also took place outside track limits. So, what can the solution be in such instances?

Letarte detailed that he wasn’t trying to get NASCAR to penalize drivers for such errors, saying, “I just want the driver to feel like being on the race track is the preferred line. So we, as an industry, have to come up with a way that’s not more dangerous to the driver, not devastating to the race car; we’ve seen the turtles that destroy the race cars. That’s silly too.” 

Long story short, Letarte just wants to see cars stay on the track because it will produce a better race.

About the author

Gowtham Ramalingam

Gowtham is a NASCAR journalist at The SportsRush. Though his affinity for racing stems from Formula 1, he found himself drawn to NASCAR's unparalleled excitement over the years. As a result he has shared his insights and observations by authoring over 3000 articles on the sport. An avid fiction writer, you can find him lost in imaginary worlds when he is not immersed in racing. He hopes to continue savoring the thrill of every lap and race together with his readers for as long as he can.

Read More