After his fall from the car in Victory Lane at Watkins Glen International on Saturday, driver of the 88 Xfinity Series car Connor Zilisch has had surgery to insert a plate to aid in his healing and recovery.
The 19 year old JR Motorsports driver took to social media to make the announcement and tank fans for their support.
JRM has announced that Zilisch will miss some time but with no race this weekend, there is time for the driver to do some healing before a decision on whether he will drive the 88 at Daytona on August 22.
Despite “fake news” articles circulating around social media, NASCAR has NO plans to make any changes to Victory Lane celebrations.
Connor Zilisch fell from the car after slipping on a wet window net. The crew had begun spraying water at him and the car before Zilisch exited the car causing the window net to become wet.
During the “Hauler Talk” podcast, NASCAR did note that in future more attention will be paid in relation to the location of the window nets.
NASCAR managing director of communications Mike Forde spoke on the issue saying, “I think that was part of the problem that the window net was flapping on the outside. I think Connor even said that may have been a problem, and one of our safety guys actually mentioned the same thing. So, we may do just sort of a check to make sure that if that’s inside the car, it’s one less thing you can slip on.”
As for rules in Victory Lane celebrations Forde said, “we have not put in any policies or best practices or anything like that.”
Though uncommon, Victory Lane celebrations can lead to visits to the medical center for cuts, bruises, and the odd separated shoulder. Drivers are more likely to incur an injury during a post race aggressive discussion than a victory celebration.
In relation to Zilisch and his recent surgery, Forde noted that should the young driver have to miss the race at Daytona, he will have to request a second medical waiver – Zilisch injured his back at Talladega and missed the race in Mexico City requiring a medical waiver – in order to maintain his championship eligibility.