Daniel Suarez. Nadia Zomorodian/News-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Watch: Daniel Suarez, Connor Zilisch involved in hard crash at COTA

By Samuel Stubbs | Last updated Mar 2, 2025 6:16 PM ET

Half of Trackhouse Racing's fleet was knocked out in an instant in Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas.

On lap 50, the No. 99 of Daniel Suarez spun in turn 19. As Suarez continued to spin up the racetrack, the No. 87 of Connor Zilisch flew into him, sending Zilisch into the tire barrier.

Trouble for Daniel Suárez and Connor Zilisch at COTA. pic.twitter.com/eOueEVBfRq
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) March 2, 2025

It was a disappointing end to a promising NASCAR Cup Series debut for Zilisch, who charged back into the top 15 after suffering a flat tire on lap 1. Zilisch won Saturday's Xfinity Series race and qualified 14th for Sunday's race.

Suarez ran inside the top 10 and top five early and was knocking on the door of the top 10 at the time of the incident. Unfortunately, neither driver's result will reflect the speed of their cars.

With Zilisch at 37th, Suarez's No. 99 team will attempt to repair his car to the best of its abilities in order to get Suarez back in the race. Trackhouse Racing still has two cars in contention: the No. 1 of Ross Chastain and the No. 88 of Shane van Gisbergen.

Samuel Stubbs

Hailing from the same neck of the woods as NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin, Samuel has been covering NASCAR for Yardbarker since February 2024. He has been a member of the National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) since October of 2024. When he’s not writing about racing, Samuel covers Arkansas Razorback basketball for Yardbarker

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