"Grateful to Be Walking" Connor Zilisch Reveals Weirdly Hilarious First Reaction to NASCAR Injury
Considering how badly it could have gone, Zilisch got off easy — and is keeping things light.
Nineteen-year-old Connor Zilisch is thankfully on the mend and "grateful to be walking" after breaking his collarbone over the weekend, the NASCAR driver said on the most recent episode of the Door Bumper Clear podcast (via USA Today).
“I’ve definitely called myself a dummy more than once already,” he added during an interview with NBC Sports. “If it was any worse, I probably wouldn’t be joking, but, you know, I take these things very light hearted. It’s a very serious matter, but I just try to stay positive through it all. I can’t do anything about it at this point but focus on my recovery moving forward. It helps to have people who are willing to joke with me. I’m definitely not afraid of the jokes."
What happened to Connor Zilisch?
Ironically, Zilisch's injury was not the result of some horrific crash or explosion, as one might assume in the world of NASCAR. A vehicle was involved, of course, but it wasn't moving at the time. The broken collarbone was actually the result of Zilisch getting his foot accidentally caught in the window after his triumph at the Xfinity Series at Watkins Glen International on behalf of Trackhouse Racing.
“The last thing I remember is thinking, I don’t know why, but I thought I was going to break my femur,” he recalled on the aforementioned podcast. "My leg was stuck. I thought I was going to get caught in the headrest and just, I thought I was done.”
He briefly lost consciousness before being loaded onto a stretcher and fitted with a neck brace. “I was talking to the medics like, ‘I’m good. I’m good. My shoulder hurts a little but that’s it,’” the racer continued. “I was like, ‘Why am I on a stretcher right now? I feel fine.’ I didn’t realize what had happened.”
Subsequent CT scans at the hospital revealed no damage to the driver's skull or brain.
Connor Zilisch’s injury update
According to the Cleveland Clinic, a broken clavicle can take between 8-12 weeks to heal in adults, though that timetable might be shorter for someone as young as Zilisch. Considering how bad it could have been, he got off easy and probably won't be as cavalier when exiting his vehicle in future.
“The collarbone is probably the best injury I could have had from what happened,” he told NBC Sports, later adding: “I don’t know the extent of what the next few days or weeks are going to be like, but I got a little bit of motivation from my teammate (Shane van Gisbergen). He told me he had this injury in super cars a few years and had a plate and raced the next weekend. I don’t think I’ll be that quick, but it certainly is an injury that can heal quicker than maybe some other bones in the body. So grateful for that, grateful that my head’s Ok, my legs are Ok. Definitely scary for me and everybody who saw it.”
Will Connor Zilisch return to NASCAR?
As a result of the injury, Zilisch was forced to withdraw from the race on Sunday, August 9. While three races of the regular season remain, it's unclear whether he'll be able to get behind the wheel again.
“I think it’s a discussion that we all have to have,” Trackhouse Racing owner Justin Marks told members of the press shortly after the incident had taken place. “We haven’t really talked about much, obviously, since yesterday, but in the little bit that we’ve discussed in some of the quiet moments over the last 24 hours, it’s going to have to be a group decision. It's going to have be sponsor, Chevrolet, [and] the team taking care of his development; taking care of him as a human and as an athlete. [It's also about] keeping his motivations high and making sure that he knows he that he's got a group of people behind him that are supportive of him. So I think it'll be a group decision ... It's just so fresh right now, but it's an important question because he's a huge asset and a huge part of the future of the business. So we have to approach that as such and make sure that we're not hurting any long-term opportunities by taking advantage of a short-term opportunity."
The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Richmond August 16 at 7:30 p.m. ET, live on USA Network.
