Connor Zilisch points finger, blame at Ty Gibbs: 'I think that was pretty intentional'

Connor Zilisch and Ty Gibbs are two of the brightest young wheelmen in all of NASCAR. However, they got tangled in each other’s web a couple of times during this past weekend’s Xfinity Series race in Mexico City.

From the first lap to the third stage, Zilisch and Gibbs found themselves near one another. Gibbs didn’t give Zilisch any grace, racing him as aggressive as possible throughout the first lap, while the JR Motorsports wheelman returned the favor closer to the finish, causing an accident in the third stage that ruined both of their chances to win.

As the dust settled on Daniel Suarez’s win in Mexico City, Zilisch took a bit of a shot at Gibbs. He claimed he was being intentionally over-aggressive with him throughout the afternoon, and it all started on Lap 1.

“It was just Ty. He was racing me really hard the whole time,” Zilisch stated, via Frontstretch. “I was easy on him the first lap, let him have it in the first few corners, and took the lead. Then I was a little faster than him. So, when I cleared him down into one, I went in a little deep and washed out. I don’t think he liked how I did that.

“He got mad at me and shipped me. So no, I don’t think it was just the nature of the corners, I think that was pretty intentional.”

Spicy. But Gibbs didn’t bite his tongue either after the race. He claimed Zilisch drilled him on the accident that put a damper on his afternoon, before congratulating Suarez on the win.

“Oh, I didn’t see much besides getting absolutely drilled in the door,” Gibbs told Bob Pockrass via X. “I hit the 9 (Suarez). I don’t know how he kept going. I got hit so hard in the door that it knocked the wheel out of my hand, and I hit him and ramped him.”

“So that was wild. Had a fun time, congrats to Daniel, wish we could have been there to win, we definitely were capable, but got taken out. But had a fun time. (I) think that’s a great race.”

All told, Ty Gibbs and Connor Zilisch will likely be racing against one another for the better part of the next two decades. We’ll see who rises above the other on the track, but there’s plenty of opportunities for revenge between the two talented wheelmen now and in the future.