The Round of 8 Truck Series playoff race at Talladega has finally picked up. After a relatively clean first stage, the drivers grew impatient coming to the end of stage 2 and ended up wrecking each other.

Matt Mills was the first one who tried his luck in threading the needle racing in midpack but backed out, sensing a big crash. While he thought he had avoided causing a big pile-up, the ripple effect of his aggressive attempt transferred through the rest of the drivers. And Connor Zilisch, out of all the drivers, tried to force the issue coming off the final turn.

But Zilisch completely missed his markers and rammed into Nick Sanchez, and both of them crawled their way to the start-finish line. These wrecks won’t have any implications for the Trackhouse Racing driver, but Sanchez’s playoff run could be severely affected.

“Frustrated how it ended but learned a lot and feeling confident going into next year.” Connor Zilisch said this to Bob Pockrass after the race. However, the fan didn’t let him off the hook in the first instance, where he put a huge dent in Nick Sanchez’s playoff run. “It was a hard hit but I was expecting to feel more than I did,” Connor Zilisch also said, “I didn’t feel anything.”

Nick Sanchez entered Love’s RV Stop 225 at Talladega above the playoff cutline, but his struggles started with him starting the race in 11th and finishing Stage 1 in 32nd and 26th-place finish in Stage 2.

In the final stage, as he aimed for a top-10 finish, multiple crashes forced him to pit for an equipment check just nine laps from the end. Though he had received clearance, NASCAR’s “miscommunication” led to a detrimental additional pit stop that hurt his championship chances.

“I got fixed up, I got everything settled after that last spin and NASCAR made me come down again after the one to go to check the spoiler. So, there was some miscommunication between the officials on pit road and the officials up top,” Sanchez said, as he put it on NASCAR.

“It kind of screwed the end of my day. If I would’ve been able to race on that last restart, I probably would’ve gained 10-15 spots, but I’m just really unhappy about whatever they have going on here, costed my valuable points for my championship,” he added further. But how did it sit with fans?

NASCAR fans turn against Connor Zilisch for his reckless racing at Talladega

Zilisch is signed to Justin Marks’ Trackhouse Racing team, but he will kickstart his journey in the Xfinity Series under Dale Jr.’s wings at JRM. So far, the young driver has managed to stay out of trouble and unnecessary drama. But ‘Dega’ certainly got the better of him as he tried to push his luck a little too far. It’s hard to judge Zilisch as a spoiled brat based on a single instance, but this fan didn’t hold any punches in his criticism of the driver. “I’m sure Zilisch “hated” to wreck a playoff driver. Entitled brat.”

Now we all know Ross Chastain made his name in the Cup Series by ruffling some feathers. He didn’t hesitate to rub off Hendrick Motorsports drivers, who certainly were fed up with his aggressive style of racing. Not to forget the hail melon he pulled off in securing his spot for the Championship 4 race. While this was only a one-off incident of Zilisch calculating his moves, this fan felt that he was truly a part of the team based on his performances at Dega. “He fits perfectly with Trackhouse.”

So far, the fans have witnessed only the best of Connor Zilisch. Despite his age, he is calm and composed on the racetrack, which also reflects the way he conducts himself off the racetrack. However, like the rest of the drivers, he is competitive and is prone to making mistakes like he did today. Acknowledging this element of Zilisch’s racecraft, a user on X added, “Zillisch is human???”

The No. 7 Truck is arguably one of the fastest machines in the garage. Kyle Busch, who hasn’t been able to win a Cup race this season, has managed two victories driving the same machine. While Zilisch couldn’t reproduce his magic from the ARCA and Xfinity races, he didn’t help himself wrecking into Nick Sanchez. And this was evident from this fan’s reactions. “Annnnd rookie in best equipment takes off top 4 playoff contender. Wow…. Sanchez should give him the Crafton treatment! 😆”

Although Zilisch is yet to showcase his talents in a full season, he’s already touted to be NSACAR’s next big thing. Well, to his credit, he certainly has given the fans those moments to make such claims. But unfortunately, mistakes like he made today will always be scrutinized and scanned by a few fans. “Greatest talent” just wrecked a playoff driver pushing like a dummy.”

• What’s your take on the crash that involved Connor Zilisch and Nick Sanchez?
• And is the criticism towards Zilisch justified?