Daniel Suárez Reaches Out to Connor Zilisch After Both Cars Taken Out

After the closing laps of the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas, Daniel Suarez reached out to his teammate Connor Zilisch after both of their cars were taken out of contention.

It was an unfortunate end to the race for Trackhouse Racing’s drivers during the NASCAR Cup Series’ third race of the 2025 season. Suarez apologized to Zilisch, according to The Athletic’s Jeff Gluck.

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During the race, both Suarez and Zilisch were eager to prove their capabilities. Suarez, known as a strong road course driver with his 2016 Xfinity Series win, joined Trackhouse in 2021 and aimed for a solid finish.

He felt his car had potential for a top-seven finish. However, the incident began when Suarez’s vehicle spun after hitting a curb, which unexpectedly put both cars in a tough situation.

Describing the mishap, Suarez explained:

“Very disappointing. This is not the way I want to talk to you. 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.”

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Compounding the incident, Suarez’s spin left teammate Zilisch with little time to react, leading to an unfortunate collision. They both were forced to exit the race prematurely. Reflecting on the incident, Suarez said the following.

“Unfortunately, my teammate Connor was out there, and he hit me. 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.”

This race was especially important for 18-year-old Connor Zilisch, who was making his NASCAR Cup Series debut. Zilisch had impressed in practice, placing third fastest during early attempts and ninth in the final practice.

Despite the abrupt end, Zilisch remained optimistic:

“I’ve had so much fun preparing for this event. That second stage driving from outside the top 30 to 14th was a lot of fun passing a lot of guys I used to watch on TV growing up.

“Hopefully, I’ll get the chance to come back and do this again. I had an absolute blast driving through the field and just wish it didn’t end early.”

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