CUP: Loose car hands Connor Zilisch third consecutive last-place finish
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
SCREENSHOT: NASCAR on PRIME
Connor Zilisch picked up the 5th last-place finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career in Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 at the Michigan International Speedway when his #88 WeatherTech Chevrolet crashed after he completed 8 of 200 laps.
The finish, which came in Zilisch’s 18th series start, was his third of the season and third in a row. In the Cup Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 35th for the #88, the 709th from a crash, and the 889th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 60th for the #88, the 1,463rd from a crash, and the 2,046th for Chevrolet.
After back-to-back last-place finishes in Charlotte, where he collided with a wrecking Austin Cindric, and Nashville, where his was one of many cars put into the wall due to an exploding brake rotor, Zilisch looked for a turnaround in Michigan. Sunday would be his first NASCAR national series start at the track, though he did win an ARCA race there in 2024. After running the Red Bull scheme the last two weeks, he’d this time carry returning sponsor WeatherTech. It was a slightly different paint scheme with a black nose, which some said resembled the #93 Amoco Pontiac run by Dave Blaney in the late 1990s.
Zilisch was one of 37 drivers entered for 40 spots, and in opening practice ranked a solid 12th with a best lap of 37.752 seconds (190.718mph). His last-place finishes resulted in an early draw for qualifying, where he came out second behind J.J. Yeley in the #44 Fanatics Casino Chevrolet. This resulted in a drop to just 34th on the starting grid despite a slightly faster lap of 37.720 seconds (190.880mph).
Securing the 37th and final starting spot was Josh Berry in the #21 Motorcraft / Quick Lane Ford, curiously the most recent driver to finish last in three consecutive points-paying Cup races. Berry was the only driver unable to take time in qualifying and incurred a redundant tail-end penalty for unapproved adjustments. Also docked for the same reason – many due to flat tires – were polesitter Denny Hamlin in the #11 National Debt Relief Toyota, 9th-place William Byron in the #24 Axalta Solar Boost Chevrolet, 10th-place Erik Jones in the #43 Dollar Tree Toyota, and 31st-place Austin Cindric in the #2 Discount Tire Ford.
When the green flag dropped, Berry remained in the 37th spot, 2.867 seconds back of the lead, and quickly got a run to the outside of Yeley entering Turn 3. By the time they reached the stripe to complete Lap 1, Yeley was in last place, 4.024 seconds back of the lead. On Lap 3, Yeley had just started to lose touch with the tail end of the field when trouble broke out in Turn 3. Zilisch had climbed from 30th at the start to 25th, and was setting up a pass on Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. in the #47 Pylon Aviation Chevrolet. Just as Zilisch looked to Stenhouse’s outside, he lost control and spun up the track, hitting the wall with his left-rear corner. Yeley made it past Zilisch during the wreck, dropping him to last place. On Lap 4, Zilisch pulled onto pit road, where the crew set to work on the left-rear, one crew member swinging a large mallet to knock the decklid flat. He made a second shorter stop under the caution, and was warned by his team he’d feel a “parachute” effect from the bent body panel. On Lap 6, Zilisch caught the tail end of the field just as the pace car pulled onto the pits, and took the Lap 7 restart still on the lead lap, 2.627 seconds back of the lead.
Zilisch’s second spin after the restart. (SCREENSHOT: NASCAR on PRIME)
Back under way, Zilisch moved around 36th-place Yeley entering Turn 1, dropping the #44 to last, 3.648 seconds back of the lead by the start of Lap 8. The next time by on Lap 9, Zilisch was still running to Yeley’s outside when he again lost control and spun straight into the inside wall. This time, Zilisch slammed the barrier head-on with the nose, to which he said, “Were done.” Zilisch was uninjured, but sounded beside himself at his string of bad luck. “Gosh, man, oh my god! I’m sorry, guys.” The team asked Zilisch if he cut down a tire from the earlier damage, but the driver said he didn’t, that he just lost control again.
Back in last place, Zilisch climbed from the car, which was then dragged behind a tow truck toward Turn 3, the bodywork dragging on the track. By Lap 12, the tow truck pulled into the garage, which briefly stopped by a Sunoco building in the infield. It then backed the car nose-first into Garage Stalls 49 and 50, where the crew looked under the hood. Zilisch was checked and released from the infield care center, and on Lap 29, NASCAR declared him the first car out of the race. His onboard camera shut off an instant later.
This began an unusually physical race at Michigan which drew 11 total cautions and saw just 24 of the starters finish under power. Austin Dillon in the #3 Dow Mobility Science Chevrolet was collected by a wrecking Tyler Reddick in the #45 Rockstar Energy Drink Toyota during a restart stack-up on Lap 83, destroying both cars. This handed point leader Reddick his first DNF of the year and his first finish worse than 15th. Behind the pair in 34th came Brad Keselowski, who suffered two separate incidents before he spun his #6 Solomon Plumbing Ford into the Turn 2 wall. Rounding out the group was Zane Smith, who battled in the Top Ten for a third-straight race, only for a flat tire to send his #38 Aaron’s Rent to Own Ford into the Turn 1 wall.
Jones and Custer impress; Yeley and Ware survive
A full eleven seconds behind race winner Denny Hamlin came a surprising Erik Jones, who nearly became the first Michigan-born driver to win a Cup race at Michigan. Jones’ #43 Dollar Tree Toyota remained among the leaders for most of the day. Also running well was Cole Custer, who brought sponsor Air Lift suspension back onto a Cup car for the first time since the 1950s. Custer took home 12th in his #41 Chevrolet, both a new season best and his fourth-straight finish of 21st or better.
Surviving the chaos also helped both J.J. Yeley in his #44 and Cody Ware in the #51 Super.com Chevrolet, which came home 21st and 23rd, respectively. Yeley remained in the Lucky Dog spot at the checkered flag, holding off Todd Gilliland for the position. Yeley’s run was the best for the NY Racing Team all season, improving on his 31st from Atlanta, and Yeley’s best in any Cup race since August 26, 2023, when he finished 19th for Rick Ware Racing.
LASTCAR STATISTICS
*Zilisch is the first driver to score three consecutive last-place finishes in Cup Series points-paying races since just last summer, when Josh Berry had a disastrous start to the Playoffs with consecutive last-place finishes in each of the first three races of the postseason: Darlington on August 31st, Gateway on September 7th, and Bristol on September 13th. No Cup driver has finished last in four straight points-paying races.
*The eight laps completed by Zilisch were the fewest by a Cup Series last-place finisher at Michigan since June 10, 2018, when Garrett Smithley had a transmission failure after the opening lap of his series debut.
*This marked the first last-place finish for the #88 in a Cup Series race at Michigan since August 17, 1986, when Buddy Baker’s #88 Crisco Oldsmobile had a rear end failure after 27 laps of the Champion Spark Plug 400.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
37) #88-Connor Zilisch / 8 laps / crash
36) #3-Austin Dillon / 82 laps / crash
35) #45-Tyler Reddick / 83 laps / crash / led 33 laps
34) #6-Brad Keselowski / 89 laps / crash
33) #38-Zane Smith / 141 laps / crash
2026 LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Trackhouse Racing (4)
2nd) Joe Gibbs Racing, Trackhouse Racing (3)
2nd) Hendrick Motorsports (2)
3rd) Garage 66, Kaulig Racing, Live Fast Motorsports, Rick Ware Racing, Wood Brothers Racing (1)
2026 LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (9)
2nd) Ford, Toyota (3)
2026 LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
