NASCAR Xfinity Series Rookie of the Year contender Conner Zilisch is out this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway with an injury. However, this will not affect his playoff status, as NASCAR has awarded the 18-year-old a Playoff Waiver.
This means that Zilisch will still be able to compete in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs despite missing the next race at Texas Motor Speedway. While this does mean he will miss out on points from at least one race, the No. 88 team can still focus on their greater goal of winning a championship.
Zilisch’s last spell of bad luck came on the last lap of the Ag-Pro 300 at Talladega last Saturday. With the road course ace looking to win his first oval race, Zilisch spun on the backstretch, hitting the inside wall hard. Zilisch was released from the infield care center at the time.
Following this accident, there was no word on his condition until Wednesday afternoon, when JR Motorsports announced he was nursing a lower back injury. Kyle Larson will step in as substitute driver of the No. 88 this weekend.
Zilisch, despite not currently leading the NASCAR Xfinity Series Rookie of the Year standings, is the only rookie locked into the playoffs. Zilisch scored a comeback win in just the third race of the season at Circuit of the Americas after he was sent to the rear for pitting under caution.
Despite this win, Zilisch has had an up-and-down season, piecing together great runs in qualifying and on race day. However, he continues to find bad luck on race day, resulting in a lopsided 6.6 average starting position and a 16.8 average finishing position.
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