NASCAR driver in scary near miss with on-track cameraman

Rising NASCAR star Connor Zilisch was involved in a scary near-miss with a cameraman post-race at World Wide Technology Raceway.

The Xfinity Series kicked off the action at the track just outside St Louis this weekend, with Zilisch running out the winner of the Nu Way 200 Sauced by Blues Hog on Saturday night.

It was Zilisch's ninth victory of the season, and that includes having won seven of the last eight races, and all of the last four (with a little bit of help from Parker Kligerman at Daytona).

READ MORE: NASCAR Results Today: Playoff star suffers DNF disaster at St Louis

Zilisch narrowly misses cameraman

As is customary for a NASCAR driver after a race victory, Zilisch came back around the track to the finish line to perform some burnouts.

However, as the JR Motorsports driver braked heavily to begin his celebrations, his car skidded from the centre of the track right to the inside wall, where a cameraman was standing filming his antics.

Fortunately, Zilisch's car avoided the cameraman, but it was far too close for comfort, particularly given that he also went on to hit the wall with the rear of his car during his celebrations and later also ripped his firesuit as he slid down his car after getting out through the roof hatch.

The incident also comes after Zilisch fell from his car in victory lane at Watkins Glen last month in a freak accident, suffering a broken collarbone and subsequently undergoing surgery.

Celebrate, @ConnorZilisch! You've earned it!

(just watch out for the cameraman 😬) pic.twitter.com/YiLrcxDc8S

— The CW Sports (@TheCW_Sports) September 7, 2025

Zilisch on Gateway victory

Following his victory, Zilisch now enters the playoffs at Bristol Motor Speedway next weekend with an astonishing 64 playoff points - 29 more than his closest rival. Post-race, however, it was all about celebrating his regular-season championship and his current winning streak.

“Four in a row, seven of the last eight, that’s awesome,” the JR Motorsports driver explained. “We’re going to celebrate this, and the regular season championship."

Zilisch heads into the playoffs as the hot favorite, and that's the case for most races these days, too. But can he keep up his astonishing form?

“Man, this is going to be tough to keep up, honestly. It’s rare that you can go on a run like this," he explained.

"Every week I show up thinking, ‘Man, this is going to be the weekend that we just run eighth,’ and just aren’t great, but every weekend we show up and we’re a winning race car, and my pit crew executes, my team executes, everybody does their job, and we end up doing burnouts on the frontstretch.

“Yeah, it’s awesome to be able to do this and win this many races.”

READ MORE: NASCAR Cup Series team hit with DOUBLE penalty at Gateway

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