Connor Zilisch: Not racing Texas due to back injury

Zilisch will not race in Saturday's Xfinity Series race at Texas Motor Speedway due to a lower back injury suffered in a crash at Talladega last week, Bob Pockrass of Fox Sports reports.

Analysis:

Zilisch was leading the race on the final lap a week ago at Talladega when he was spun out by Jesse Love on the backstretch and went hard into the inside wall. It was a pretty devastating looking hit and thankfully he was able to walk away. Unfortunately in the recent days since the last race, Zilisch has been suffering from lower back pain and the team decided it was best to let the young star rest to try to get back to 100 percent for the stretch run. It's probably a smart move considering the Xfinity Series will have two weeks off after Texas. In the meantime, Kyle Larson will drive the No. 88 Chevrolet in place of Zilisch on Saturday at Texas in addition to his Cup duties behind the No. 5 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports on Sunday. Zilisch will look to return to action on May 23 to the Xfinity Series at Charlotte where he is also slated to make his second Cup Series start behind the wheel of the No. 87 Chevrolet for Trackhouse Racing on Sunday May 24 in the Coca-Cola 600.