Calamity at Naval Base Coronado ruins Trackhouse Racing's day
It was pure chaos at Naval Base Coronado. During a Stage 2 restart on Lap 32, Austin Hill took his No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet and slammed it right into Connor Zilisch, sending the No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet into the wall. It was an absolute mess of metal, and with nowhere to go, a group of drivers including polesitter Shane van Gisbergen got caught in the crossfire.
This incident proved devastating for the Trackhouse Racing garage. Both Zilisch and van Gisbergen were forced out of the race, adding another bitter pill to a rough rookie season for Zilisch, who has now finished 30th or worse in four of his last five outings. It marks only the second road-course DNF for van Gisbergen. As Zilisch noted after leaving the care center, it was a stinging blow to lose two cars that were clearly fast enough to win.
While Hill, Zilisch, and van Gisbergen ended up credited with 36th through 38th place, others managed to escape the carnage. Riley Herbst, Ryan Blaney, and Michael McDowell navigated the disaster to salvage impressive top-10 finishes, coming home eighth, ninth, and 10th respectively. Ty Gibbs, Daniel Suárez, and John Hunter Nemechek were also caught up in the mayhem.
