A massive crash on Lap 32 dramatically altered Sunday’s NASCAR Cup race in San Diego, erupting as the field funneled into Turn 1.

Front‑row starters Connor Zilisch and Austin Hill made contact when Hill overshot the corner and missed the apex, sliding up the track and into Zilisch. Both cars slammed the outside wall, and Shane van Gisbergen, running directly behind them, had nowhere to go and piled in. Hill radioed, “Sorry guys, locked up the rear brakes,” after the incident.

The wreck destroyed both Trackhouse Chevrolets and heavily damaged Hill’s No. 33. A chain‑reaction collected several others — Daniel Suárez, Ryan Blaney, Michael McDowell, Riley Herbst, John Hunter Nemechek, and Ty Gibbs — with varying degrees of damage.

NASCAR immediately threw the red flag to repair the Turn 1 wall. After roughly ten minutes, the race returned to yellow‑flag conditions.

Van Gisbergen, visibly frustrated, declined to discuss the crash after exiting the infield care center, telling reporters to “ask the next guys.” He later called the car “unreal fast once the track rubbered up” and said he was “filthy” to leave San Diego with only one point. Looking ahead to another road course next week, he noted the challenge of being placed in Group 1 qualifying again but said the team simply needed to execute.

For Zilisch, the crash marked his sixth DNF of the 2026 season and ended what had been his first laps led in Cup competition. He said he believed he left Hill enough room before being sent into the wall. Asked whether it was simply a racing incident, Zilisch replied it was “a little more egregious than that.”

Hill, whose day also ended in the wreck, accepted responsibility after being released from the care center. He explained he entered Turn 1 too deep, lost the rear