Connor Zilisch will not compete in Saturday's NASCAR Xfinity Series Andy's Frozen Custard 300 at Texas Motor Speedway due to a lower back injury, which was sustained in a hard crash on the final lap of last weekend's Ag-Pro 300 at Talladega Superspeedway.
Kyle Larson, who drives the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet in the NASCAR Cup Series, will fill-in for the injured driver this weekend.
Here is a replay of the crash, which led to Zilisch being sidelined for this weekend's race:
JR Motorsports, which fields the No. 88 Chevrolet that Zilisch is serving as the full-time driver of this season, made the announcement via a statement shared on Wednesday afternoon.
"Kyle Larson will sub for Connor Zilisch behind the wheel of the No. 88 Chevrolet this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway as Zilisch continues to recover from a lower back injury sustained last weekend at Talladega," the team statement said.
Following the official announcement from JR Motorsports, Zilisch posted a thank you to Larson on X.
"Thank you to @KyleLarsonRacin for stepping up for me this weekend and everyone who has helped me through this process. Doing everything I can to be back as soon as possible," Zilisch said in his post.
Zilisch, who has one win, and three top-10 finishes through the opening 11 races of his rookie campaign in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, was leading last weekend's Ag-Pro 300 at Talladega when the injury-inducing incident occurred.
On the final lap of the race, Zilisch was turned from the lead after contact from Jesse Love. Zilisch would collide head-on with the SAFER barrier on the inside of the race track.
After the crash, Zilisch radioed that he was suffering discomfort in his back, and after some time, he got out of his car and was taken to the infield care center, where he was eventually checked and released.
Upon being released from the infield care center, Zilisch said the x-rays in the infield care center showed no broken bones, but that his back was incredibly sore, and likely would be worse over the next few days. However, Zilisch anticipated at the time, that he would be fine to compete at Texas Motor Speedway. That turned out to not be the case.
After Texas Motor Speedway, the NASCAR Xfinity Series will observe two weeks off, which should allow Zilisch additional time to recover from his injuries.
Zilisch currently ranks sixth in the NASCAR Xfinity Series regular season championship standings, but that ranking is likely to take a hit following this weekend's race at Texas.
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