Connor Zilisch’s Watkins Glen triumph in the NASCAR Xfinity Series on August 9, 2025, was supposed to be a crowning moment. The 19-year-old phenom led 60 of 82 laps, snagged the pole, and outran teammate Shane van Gisbergen to claim his seventh career Xfinity win. But Victory Lane turned into a viral disaster when Zilisch, trying to pose for the cameras, caught his foot in the window net and took a hard tumble to the asphalt.

The CBS footage showed him wincing in pain as medics rushed in, and while he escaped serious head injury, a broken collarbone required surgery with plates and screws. Zilisch later admitted, “I should’ve made sure it was tucked in,” pinpointing the loose net as the culprit. The fall lit a firestorm of chatter, especially when Denny Hamlin dropped a bombshell on his

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