Turn 1 became calamity corner again at Naval Base Coronado as a Lap 32 restart in Stage 2 of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race sparked a multicar incident at the front of the field.
Austin Hill slid the No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet into Connor Zilisch in the fast opening turn, slamming the No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet and himself into the fence. With very little room to avoid the wreck, a handful of cars stacked in a pileup, including polesitter and seven-time road-course winner Shane van Gisbergen.
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Ty Gibbs, Ryan Blaney, Michael McDowell, Daniel Suárez, Riley Herbst and John Hunter Nemechek were also involved in the incident.
Teammates Zilisch and van Gisbergen saw their respective days come to an end, continuing a harrowing rookie campaign for Zilisch, who will now have finishes of 30th or worse in four of the last five races. It’s just the second road-course DNF for van Gisbergen (Chicago Street, 2024).
WATCH: Teammates Zilisch, SVG react to crash | All angles of restart wreck
“It’s unfortunate for us,” Zilisch said after exiting the infield care center. “I mean, our car was really fast today, both Shane and I collectively. It stings. When you have a chance to go and win a race, and you’re in a prime spot, and you get put in a position like that, it’s extremely tough. I really hate it for everyone at Trackhouse. Red Bull — this was a huge weekend for us, and to have both cars out is really unfortunate.”
Herbst, Blaney and McDowell all rallied to score top 10s after the wreck, finishing eighth, ninth and 10th, respectively. Hill, Zilisch and van Gisbergen were credited with 36th-38th on the results sheet.