Shane van Gisbergen Shares Injury Advice with Connor Zilisch After Fall

NASCAR driver Shane van Gisbergen has shared injury advice with Connor Zilisch, who fell off his car while celebrating his Xfinity Series race win at Watkins Glen International. Zilisch suffered a broken collarbone due to the impact, an injury that van Gisbergen had dealt with after a mountain bike accident in 2021.

The sudden and hard nature of Zilisch’s fall made headlines during the race weekend. Fortunately, the 19-year-old driver confirmed from the hospital that he was fine. He stated:

“Thank you everybody for reaching out today. I’m out of the hospital and getting better already. Thankfully, CT scans for my head are clear, I just have a broken collarbone. Thankful for all the medics for quick attention and grateful it wasn’t any worse.”

NASCAR’s Trackhouse Racing team also confirmed on Saturday that it was withdrawing Zilisch’s No. 87 Chevrolet from the Cup Series race at Watkins Glen due to the injury. The statement read:

“Trackhouse Racing has elected to withdraw the No. 87 Red Bull Chevrolet from tomorrow’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Watkins Glen International. We wish Connor a speedy recovery.”

Trackhouse’s star driver Van Gisbergen took his fourth Cup Series win on Sunday, breaking the record for the most wins in a single season by a Cup rookie. One common factor in all his race wins is that all have been secured on either road or street courses.

Van Gisbergen won the race by leading for 38 laps and created a significant lead of 11.116 seconds over Christopher Bell, who came second. After the race, he spoke about the injury to his collarbone in 2021, stating that he was in a similar situation to Zilisch.

Notably, Zilisch’s return date has not been confirmed yet, but with the next weekend being an off-weekend for the Xfinity Series, it could prove advantageous for the young driver. Van Gisbergen said that with the help of good doctors and medication, Zilisch should be able to race fine in the following weekend. He said:

“I broke my collarbone in 2021, left side, mine was a bit out by the AC. I did a bit more damage to my shoulder, and then I also had a fake ligament put in. I had a weekend off and raced the next week. Pretty much what he [Zilisch] is going to go through. Once the plate is in there, it’s stronger than the bone was. I had a plate put in and then take it out at the end of the year. It is obviously going to be in pain.

“My biggest problem was the tightening of the belts. I could really feel the plates through my skin, and it was a horrible feeling. I raced the next week and did pretty well. So, with some good doctors and some good dr*gs, he’ll get through the race fine.”