BRISTOL, Tenn. — Even when everything is going right, it can only take five seconds for things to go horribly wrong.
Connor Zilisch started his Thursday (Sept. 19) by picking up right where he left off from his debut win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at Watkins Glen International last week, sweeping the poles for both the ARCA Menards Series and the Craftsman Truck Series races at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Championship hardware was also on the line, as Bristol marked the final race of the ARCA East season. Zilisch held a 16-point lead over William Sawalich heading into Bristol and all he needed to win the title was to have a solid outing and finish the race in one piece.
Instead, he ended the race in pieces.
Logan Misuraca, driving a third Rev Racing car in her first ARCA start of the season, crashed between turns 1 and 2 and slid down the steep banking, right into the side of Zilisch’s No. 28 car.
His race was over on the spot and he was saddled with a 26th-place finish in what had turned into a nightmare outing. Now all Sawalich had to do to clinch the ARCA East title was finish ninth or better and he took it one step further by winning the race.
A tough break indeed, but Zilisch had another race to turn things around.
Starting the night with a front row seat, Zilisch got out to an early lead in the Truck race, leading the first 41 laps before ceding the lead to Corey Heim. Zilisch finished fourth in stage one and was on track for another top-five finish in stage two, until another Rev Racing driver in Nick Sanchez got into the back of him in turn 3.
The incident dropped Zilisch off the lead lap and he was only able to muster a 19th-place finish in the aftermath.
“Frustrating [that] I got spun out, and I went the wrong way once I spun out, got trapped a lap down and fought hard all night trying to get back on the lead lap,” Zilisch said. “I didn’t get [the lap back] until the end there, and I felt like we had a really, really fast truck.
“Spire Motorsports did a really good job with this one, and it makes it even more sour to run 19th with a top-five truck.”
When asked about the incident post-race, Sanchez — who finished race in fifth and clinched a playoff spot in the Round of 8 — took full responsibility.
“I mean, it’s my fault,” Sanchez said. “My goal was to get to his right rear in [turns] 3 and 4 and clear him and he slowed down a little bit more than I expected in the bottom of 3 and 4 and I just hit him, but that’s not an excuse.
“I need to be more cautious about that, especially with a teammate … unacceptable on my part.”
Despite the disappointing end to what was shaping up to be an impressive night, Zilisch took it all in stride and is ready for next week’s opportunity at Kansas Speedway.
“It’s racing,” Zilisch said. “You’re going to have nights like this, and you just got to accept it. Still, I qualified on the pole in both races my first time here. There’s a lot to take away from it, but a definitely a lot to be frustrated about too.
“It’s a tough night for me, but learn, get better for Kansas next weekend; looking forward to it already.”
Stephen Stumpf is the NASCAR Content Director for Frontstretch and is a three-year veteran of the site. His weekly columns include “Stat Sheet” and “4 Burning Questions.” He also writes commentary, contributes to podcasts, edits articles and is frequently at the track for on-site coverage.
Can find on Twitter @stephen_stumpf.
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