AUSTIN, Texas — After drawing the ire of Ryan Sieg following an early crash in last weekend’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at EchoPark Speedway, the last thing Corey Day needed to do was find himself embroiled in another snafu the following week at Circuit of the Americas.
But that’s exactly what happened in Saturday’s (Feb. 28) Focused Health 250, as he turned Connor Zilisch with three laps to go while racing for fourth place.
“He thought he was clear and he wasn’t, and he tried tucking in and wasn’t clear,” Zilisch said. “It just hooked us.”
The wreck erased Zilisch’s comeback, as he had soared from 29th to the top five after overcoming brake issues in stage two. He also had a chance to battle Shane van Gisbergen for the win in the event that another caution came out, but the possibility of a full comeback was all for naught the moment he got sent spinning into the guardrail.
“Just unfortunate to end a day like that when you rally back to a top five and it gets taken away from you like that,” Zilisch added.
Zilisch also said that the incident doesn’t warrant a further conversation unless Day approaches him first.
“If he wants to come talk to me, he can come talk to me, but I’m not going to go find him and tell him he’s an idiot because, I mean, I think he can tell himself that.”
When asked for his side of the story, Day, who had significant damage from earlier incidents, detailed how that damage led to the incident with Zilisch.
“It probably doesn’t show it great through the camera, but I just had the pan coming loose,” Day explained. “There was something wrong with the splitter in the front end, and I was already super tight off that corner. (Zilisch) fed the outside and I was trying to give him a lane, so I was all over the curb and it got (the car) even more upset.
“And then as soon as he kind of even got within the vicinity of crossing over, I just lost all turn and whatever downforce I had left, and then I ran into him. Didn’t want to do that at all.”
Day also told the media that he plans to apologize to Zilisch for the contact and that he was concerned about the perception of his recent incidents.
“That’s not the look I want,” Day explained. “I’m hoping these next couple of weeks I’m quiet and don’t touch a single car and just run my own race. It’s not the look I want. …
“The best thing about this sport is you can redeem yourself a week after you hurt yourself.”
Day clearly has the talent, as he’s recorded back-to-back top-five finishes this season, despite having minimal experience racing on pavement. But talent doesn’t excuse constant mistakes, and constant mistakes can create an unflattering reputation in a hurry.
“He’s just very inexperienced at asphalt racing, so I get it,” Zilisch said. “He’s been thrown in the deep end, and it’s a lot to take on, so I understand it, but when you’re racing at this high of a level, you got to clean it up and not do that stuff. …
“It’s just something he’s going to have to learn.”
Stephen Stumpf is the NASCAR Content Director for Frontstretch and is a three-year veteran of the site. His weekly column is “Stat Sheet,” and he formerly wrote "4 Burning Questions" for three years. He also writes commentaries, contributes to podcasts, edits articles and is frequently at the track for on-site coverage.
Find Stephen on Twitter @stephen_stumpf
Seriously…Conner CAME across the track and he blames Day for holding his line? Now, don’t get me wrong, Day is a spoiled entitled brat, too.
Poor little entitled Connor. This isnt sports car wine and cheese racing.