Neither Shane van Gisbergen nor Connor Zilisch will win the Anduril 250 Race the Base after entering the inaugural NASCAR Cup Series race at Naval Base Coronado as the favorites to win.
CORONADO, Cali. -- Neither Shane van Gisbergen nor Connor Zilisch will win the Anduril 250 Race the Base after entering the inaugural NASCAR Cup Series race at Naval Base Coronado as the favorites to win.
Zilisch and SVG combined to lead three times for 15 of the first 31 laps, with Zilisch leading eight laps and SVG leading twice for seven laps. The Trackhouse Racing teammates lived up to the pre-race hype but Saturday winner Austin Hill was right between them, leading Zilisch who restarted to the outside of Hill on lap 32.
A day after pointing out how easy it is to misjudge the turn one wall after Sam Mayer crashed into it and caused a huge wreck, Hill appeared to give himself space between his car and the wall. That decision led to Hill getting tight exiting the corner, pushing Zilisch up the track and leading to them checking up and crashing.
"He was pretty far from the wall and didn't give me space. I wouldn't call it aggressive. I'd call it a little more egregious than that," Zilisch said.
The crash also collected SVG, who had nowhere to go but get into Hill. SVG angrily drove his car back to the garage, declining comment and elaborating more in the infield care center.
A little bit more.
"Ask the next guy [if it was a racing incident]," SVG said. "It's unfortunate, yea. I'm filthy [upset]."
Zilisch was more vocal. An issue took him out of another race that could've been a bright spot in an otherwise awful rookie year. At Watkins Glen, he ran second to SVG much of the day until he blew a tire late and finished well outside of the top-10.
Entering Naval Base Coronado, Zilisch was 34th in the points standings. He added a second-to-last-place finish to a recent run of last-place finishes.
"Story of my year," Zilisch said. "When you have a chance to go and win a race and you're in a prime position and you get put in a position like that, it sucks."
Next for the NASCAR Cup Series is Sonoma Raceway, June 28. SVG is the defending winner while Zilisch will see the track in Cup competition for the first time in his career.
