Shane van Gisbergen and Connor Zilisch are teammates at Trackhouse and at Chicago, they were also teammates at JR Motorsports. They ran inverse paint schemes, both representing Red Bull and WeatherTech.
And while Zilisch had to drive through the field after a practice wreck, SVG had to do something similar after some mid-race strategy went awry. With some help from a late-race yellow, the race became a head-to-head battle between the teammates.
Zilisch had never raced SVG for the win before (although, they were co-drivers in the Rolex 24 at Daytona) and was caught off guard by the aggression he experienced as the hands of SVG as they raced down into Turn 1. Van Gisbergen threw it up the inside, using all the track to muscle his way into the race lead.
"I didn't have a chance"
"I understand he's racing for the win, but yeah, I didn't even have a chance there," Zilisch told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. "He just stuffed me in the wall. Definitely frustrating, but still really cool to get Red Bull and WeatherTech a 1-2. My team worked so hard (after practice wreck). The entire JR Motorsports team came in to help, and yeah, we had a shot at it there and that's all you can ask for. I'll definitely remember the way he raced me. I didn't expect him to do that. But I get it, we're racing for the win."
Learning from it
In the post-race press conference, Zilisch expanded on that, both disappointed in himself for not preparing for the move and surprised by how aggressive van Gisbergen was.
"It wasn't dirty," said Zilisch. "We're racing for the win on the last restart. I just didn't expect it -- kind of just caught me by surprise. I wouldn't consider it dirty at all. I could have just done a better job at keeping leverage but I let him get a nose ahead of me and at that point, it's his corner and he can do what he wants to. I didn't expect it, so I wish I could have it back."
He later added: "By no means does he have to leave me room. I expected it, but I won't expect it next time. I'm not mad about it, but like I said, I wish I had it back ... I would have done it differently."
What would Zilisch have done, exactly? He explained that he would have slammed the door on him in the brief moment where he got clear on the frontstretch, sweeping low and preventing a dive up the inside.
It also seems like Zilisch had some preconceived notions about the way SVG would race him, considering his background, but anyone who has watched Supercars knows better -- just look at some of the tense battles between himself and his former Triple Eight teammate Jamie Whincup.
"I see Shane as a driver who came from New Zealand and over there, we were raised the same -- when you hit someone, you get a penalty," said Zilisch. "I expected that but by no means is that the rule here so I have nothing to complain about. I can't be upset about it. It's part of racing. Next time I'll learn and will be more aggressive."
And next time could be very soon as SVG will be back in the No. 9 JR Motorsports car for the NASCAR Xfinity race at Sonoma next weekend. It will be interesting to see how Zilisch adjusts his style should the two teammates face-off once again.
