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Daniel Suarez shares words with Connor Zilisch after wreck at COTA that ended their races

Brian Jones Profile Picby:Brian Jones•03/02/25•

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Daniel Suarez
Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports

Daniel Suarez apologized to Connor Zilisch after the two were involved in a wreck at COTA on Sunday. Per Jeff Gluck of The Athletic, Suarez said, “Sorry bud,” to Zilisch after leaving the care center. Zilisch was speaking to Performance Racing Network (PRN) when Suarez approached him.

The wreck happened during the final stage of the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at COTA when Suarez spun out. Zilisch tried to avoid Suarez but hit him and ran into the wall. Suarez and Zilisch, members of Trackhouse Racing, did not finish the race.

Suarez spoke to FOX Sports about the wreck. “Very disappointing. This is not the way I want to talk to you,” he said. “Our car was good. I thought we were going to have a top-five run. I don’t know if we were good enough for the win, but a top-five run for sure, top-seven maybe. And lower pressure, the car is lower, you know it hits everything harder. I just hit the curb, that big section right there, and it spin me out.”

More on Daniel Suarez and Connor Zilisch

Suarez then talked about Zilisch getting collected in the wreck. “Unfortunately, my teammate Connor was out there, and he hit me,” Suarez added. “I ended my race and his race. I could have spun out myself and keep going, but unfortunately, he was there. Sometimes, it’s hard. You have to make a decision to go left or go right, and there was a little bit of smoke. Unfortunately, he decided to go right, and there wasn’t much room there. So a little bit unfortunate, but the only thing we can do now is learn and move on.”

The wreck was tough for Connor Zilisch, who made his Cup Series debut on Sunday. The 18-year-old has had a lot of success in the lower levels of NASCAR and won the Xfinity Series race at COTA on Saturday.

That was way harder than I wanted it to be,” Zilisch said after the race, per NASCAR.com. “I did not drive a clean race at all … I was kind of mentally fogged halfway through that race. I made way too many mistakes… I was glad we were able to fight back.”