Connor Zilisch injured after slipping and falling off his car in Victory Lane after NASCAR Xfinity Series win

NASCAR Xfinity Series star Connor Zilisch suffered an apparent injury after slipping and falling off of his car in Victory Lane. Zilisch, 19, earned his sixth win of the 2025 season at Watkins Glen International. He was climbing out of his car to stand on the driver’s door and celebrate when he lost his balance and fell to the ground, landing hard on the pavement by the side of his car.

Zilisch did not get up immediately afterwards and required medical attention. He was then taken out of Victory Lane on a stretcher and to the infield care center via ambulance for further evaluation. Per Dillon Welch of The CW, Zilisch had been speaking with medical personnel before being taken out of Victory Lane, and Dustin Long of NBC Sports shared that Zilisch was sitting up in the ambulance as he was loaded in.

Per NASCAR, Zilisch is awake and alert and has been transported to a local hospital for further evaluation. Further updates on Zilisch’s condition will come from his race team, JR Motorsports.

Zilisch had just earned his sixth win of the 2025 season, continuing a hot streak that has vaulted him all the way to the top of the Xfinity Series standings and affirmed him as a bona fide championship contender. He has emerged as perhaps NASCAR’s brightest young star. After missing one race due to a back injury suffered in a crash racing for the win on the final lap at Talladega in April, Zilisch has gone on a statistical run that parallels some of the best in Xfinity Series history, as he has rattled off 11 consecutive top five finishes since his return at Charlotte in May with wins at Pocono, Sonoma, Dover, Indianapolis and now Watkins Glen. Zilisch also won earlier this year at Circuit of the Americas in March.

Zilisch is also scheduled to compete in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Watkins Glen, and he is widely expected to move up to the Cup Series full-time for Trackhouse Racing beginning in 2026. Zilisch is tentatively set to start 25th in what will be his fourth Cup start of the season.