Connor Zilisch breaks silence on his first NASCAR race since injury recovery

NASCAR prodigy Connor Zilisch returned to the racetrack on Saturday, May 24, 2025, at the BetMGM 300 race at Charlotte Motor Speedway since his Talladega injury. During a post-race interview, Zilisch opened up about his thoughts on his return to the Xfinity Series after a two-week break.

The JR Motorsports driver was involved in an accident on the final lap of the Talladega Superspeedway race. He made contact with Jesse Love, which sent him sliding into the inside retaining walls. The incident resulted in a back injury, and Zilisch sat out the Texas Motor Speedway race while Kyle Larson substituted for him and eventually won the race.

Two weeks later, Connor Zilisch made his return to the Xfinity Series at Charlotte Motor Speedway and delivered a solid performance. He qualified second for the race behind his on-track Toyota rival, Taylor Gray. Reflecting on a good start and finish in the race, Zilisch told the media (via X):

“I felt really good. Sometimes, it’s good to get a few weeks off and reset. Really proud of this group. We had a really good car today. Just came up a little bit short, but we’ll go get them next week at Nashville and see what we can do there.”

Zilisch held onto his spot in stage one and finished stage two in P3 behind the defending champion. Ultimately, he finished the race in P2 behind the winner, Hendrick Motorsports driver William Byron.

Connor Zilisch will drive another 600 miles on the track in the Cup Series. He will be the youngest driver to compete in the Coca-Cola 600 scheduled for May 25, 2025.

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"It’s going to be tough": Connor Zilisch got candid about his Coca-Cola 600 debut

JR Motorsports driver Connor Zilisch will mark his second Cup Series start with the 600-mile Memorial Day race on Sunday. Zilisch competes full-time in the Xfinity Series and has part-time ties with Trackhouse Racing in the Cup Series.

Reflecting on the major milestone event, Zilisch expressed his thoughts with FOX Sports (via X):

"It’s going to be tough. I don't expect to go and run well, ... but if I'm going to run in the Cup Series one day, I’ve got to be able to run those races. And there's no better way to get experience than trial by fire."

"It’s a long race that you can struggle the first half, and then you still have a full Xfinity race in the second half to come back from. There's a lot of time in that race. I feel like it'll be good for me to just get those reps, get the laps, and the more laps in that car, the better. That’s part of the reason, is they just want to get me laps in the car, since we can't go testing," he added.

Connor Zilisch ranks sixth in the Xfinity Series points table with 351 points to his credit. He has secured one win, two top-five, and four top-ten finishes in 12 starts this season.