“A Real Shame!” Shane van Gisbergen and Connor Zilisch Heartbroken Over Massive San Diego Wreck

The NASCAR Cup Series race on Sunday at San Diego Navy Base was as wild as many predicted, as the best road course racers in the garage didn’t even survive stage one. Trackhouse Racing duo of Shane van Gisbergen and Connor Zilsich, were involved in a massive wreck resulting in them DNF-ing, earning finishes outside top-35.

On lap 32, Zilsich found himself racing Austin Hill for the lead with SVG behind them. The No:33 Chevy mixed the apex on turn one, and slammed the No:88 to the wall. The No:97, who was running closely behind hit the RCR driver from the back, causing a multi-car pileup that collected 8+ cars. The young Chevy driver blamed rear brakes getting locked up, for drama.

Sorry guys, locked up the rear brakes.

Austin Hill said on team radio.

Shane van Gisbergen was beyond disappointed with how the race played out for him and shared his disappointment with the media after getting released from the infield care center. He admitted that it was a real shame he couldn’t secure a front-row finish in such a strong car, as his streak of winning debut NASCAR Road Course Cup race has come to an end.

A real shame. The Red Bull Chevy was unreal fast once the track kind of rubbered up. Yeah, a real shame…I unreal fast once the track kind of rubbered up …I’m filthy.

Shane van Gisbergen said about the incident.

Rookie Connor Zilsich also shared his thoughts on the dramatic incident post-race while talking to the media. He highlighted how Trackhouse had real race win worthy cars on Sunday and admitted that he cherished the moments he spent leading the race, as 2026 hasn’t been kind to him.

It’s just unfortunate to end the day like that for both Red Bull Chevrolets with Shane and I. We had a really fast car today. We got out front and it felt really good, but that’s how it goes sometimes. I had a lot of fun leading my first career Cup Series laps…You have a chance to go win a race and you’re in a prime spot to do so, but get put in a position like that, it’s extremely tough.

Connor Zilsich said about the incident, via nascar.com.

Shane van Gisbergen is determined to redeem himself next week

The three times Supercars championship winning Kiwi is not losing his sleep over the wild incident that ruined his race on Sunday. He is already looking forward to next week’s Save Mart 350 race at Sonoma Raceway. SVG will be the front runner to win race, as no-one in the garage can match his road course racing skills.

One major hurdle though is the fact that he would be forced to qualify as part of the group 1 drivers owing to the poor results this Sunday. Group two drivers have an advantage in the fight for starting positions, more so in the Next-Gen era.

Luckily, we got a good one next week. but unfortunately, we’ll be in Group 1 (qualifying) again, which makes it tougher. Just gotta go and execute.

Shane van Gisbergen said.

The comments from the veteran racer shows though disappointed, he is determined to move on from the incident. It would be interesting to see how everything is going to playout for the No:97 Chevy driver next week and the remaining road course races.

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