Connor Zilisch announced he plans to be back behind the wall for the NASCAR Xfinity Series at Daytona this weekend after he broke his collarbone at Watkins Glen.
Zilisch shared on social media, “Excited to be back behind the wheel tomorrow at Daytona! Thank you to my doctors, and surgeons, along with everybody who has shown me support throughout this process.”
However, it’s unclear if he will complete the race. In an interview with Bob Pockrass, he was asked about how many laps he will complete. Zilisch responded, “We’ll see about that. Parker [Kligerman’s] obviously going to be here and we fitted him in the car, and he’s going to be ready to go. Odds are that just with the risk of having a wreck at Daytona-. You know my wreck at Talladega I had black and blue bruises down both my shoulders from the belts and just the impact from that. So I don’t know if I’m going to run the entire race or get out at a caution. It’s probably just going to be how I feel. How I feel doesn’t really matter ’cause if a wreck happens things could get much worse really quickly. Really looking at the risk versus reward.
“And obviously I know Parker, he’s been in victory lane here before and knows how to get around this place and knows how to draft so I’m very comfortable with getting out and letting him get in if need be, but just grateful to be here this quickly,” he added.
“It sucks getting out, but I’m young and as long as I start the race and run one timed lap I get whatever points whoever finishes the race. You’re not losing that much doing that here. You’re not going to go a lap down changing drivers, the track’s long enough and under caution. Looking at it now, I most likely am going to pull out of line before the race starts and ride around until a caution comes out and then do whatever needs to happen. But, you know, say I wake up tomorrow and I’m feeling really good then who knows, but that’s very probably unlikely and the risk isn’t worth fighting for. And I don’t want to see what the risk is either. I’ve wrecked here pretty big earlier this year and then obviously what happened at Talladega. These places are the most dangerous tracks we go to. Obviously, safety is still great with these cars and I’m able to walk away from big wrecks, but just with the fact that the bone isn’t fully healed. Obviously, the plate is providing a lot of support and I’m feeling much better it’s sometimes not worth it to find out.”
Connor Zilisch sounds a little conflicted on plans for Friday but “most likely” will drop to rear and get out at first caution and have Parker Kligerman finish Xfinity race. Zilisch would get the points for where car finishes but no playoff points if Kligerman wins stage/race. pic.twitter.com/QJa2kUv5HJ
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) August 21, 2025
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