Bob Pockrass
FOX Motorsports Insider
Trackhouse Racing driver Connor Zilisch had surgery Tuesday to repair a broken collarbone suffered in a fall Saturday while celebrating his victory at Watkins Glen.
Zilisch, in a social media post, said he underwent the surgery so a plate and screws could be put in and help the healing process.
The Xfinity Series points leader did not say when he might return to racing. The series is off this weekend and then has three regular-season races remaining at Daytona, Portland (road course) and World Wide Technology Raceway (commonly known as Gateway).
Zilisch indicated on the “Door Bumper Clear” podcast that he was briefly knocked out after the fall, where he had one foot on the roof and one on the driver’s side window sill, where he had not tucked the window net inside the car but was instead laying underneath his foot.
“I was climbing out of the car and obviously the window net was on the door and as soon as they started spraying water, my foot slipped and the last thing I remember is being halfway done and falling,” Zilisch said during the USA telecast of the Cup race Sunday.
“I’m glad it wasn’t any worse.”
All CT scans Saturday proved negative for any head injuries.
Zilisch, who races for JR Motorsports in the series and leads teammate Justin Allgaier by seven points in the standings, fell off his car when he lost his footing while trying to stand on his car following his sixth victory of the season. If he doesn’t start a race, he would need a waiver to miss a race(s) and still be eligible for the playoffs.
He also could possibly start a race and then have a stand-by driver replace him during the event — Zilisch would then get the points for wherever the replacement driver finishes.
Zilisch, the No. 1 Cup prospect in a FOX Sports midseason prospect ranking released last week, is expected to race full time in the NASCAR Cup Series next year. Trackhouse has already announced that Daniel Suarez will not return and a Zilisch announcement is expected soon.
Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.
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