NASCAR Fans Praying For Connor Zilisch After 'Terrifying' Fall On Saturday originally appeared on The Spun.
Saturday at Watkins Glen was a bittersweet moment for JR Motorsports' Connor Zilisch.
Moments after entering victory lane following his thrilling win in New York, things took a terrifying turn when he fell off his car while celebrating and landed hard on his head and neck area. The loud celebrations at the Mission 200 turned dead silent as medical professionals rushed over to Zilisch to help him.
It appeared that Zilisch slipped on a safety netting draped over his window but as he fell it got caught and he was unable to brace himself, hitting the ground with all of his weight.
NASCAR reporters on the scene filmed Zilisch being loaded into an ambulance. Thankfully, he appeared to have movement in his extremities and was able to sit up on his own power.
"#NASCAR … Xfinity winner Connor Zilisch is loaded into an ambulance to go to the care center after falling in victory lane. He sat up in the ambulance," NBC Sports' Dustin Long reported.
Thoughts and Prayers
NASCAR fans quickly started sending Zilisch all of the best as he gets treated for any potential injuries:
"That’s literally the worst way to fall too holy (expletive). The way his leg got caught in the window and flipped him upside down head-first was just brutal man, and it didn’t look like his leg bent right either," one stunned user replied.
"Hopefully he’s okay," wrote another.
"(Praying) hope he's ok after that I've never seen anything like that before," a third wrote.
"You can tell he almost lost his footing a few seconds prior because of the window net sliding. Drivers please start tucking your window nets inside of the car, letting them hang out the window like this is a genuine safety hazard. Hope Connor's okay, what a brutal fall…"
"Terrifying. Always worried if anyone would ever slip up on the window netting in a celebration… and this is worst case scenario. Hope @ConnorZilisch isn’t too badly hurt from this. He is a super talent."
NASCAR and JR Motorsports have released statements making it clear that he is awake and alert, but he is still undergoing testing at a local hospital as an added precaution.
"UPDATE: ConnorZilisch has been transported to a local hospital for further evaluation following today's Xfinity Series race. He is awake and alert," NASCAR posted on X a short while ago.
"As stated in the media center by NASCAR, ConnorZilisch is awake and alert and being transported to a local hospital for further evaluations," JR Motorsports also posted on X.
Momentum stopped?
Zilisch had been on an absolute tear in the NASCAR Xfinity Series this season. Since late May he has enjoyed 11 straight top-five finishes, winning five of those races in the process.
It's still a dead-heat for the top of the table though. He's been tied with JR Motorsports teammate Justin Allgaier, but today's results should see him move ahead as the Xfinity Series playoffs approach.
Fortunately, every indication right now indicates that the worst possible outcomes are not going to be the case. Being mobile and alert are the two main things he's already achieved.
We wish Zilisch all the best as he recovers.
NASCAR Fans Praying For Connor Zilisch After 'Terrifying' Fall On Saturday first appeared on The Spun on Aug 9, 2025
This story was originally reported by The Spun on Aug 9, 2025, where it first appeared.
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