NASCAR will not make any changes to the victory lane celebrations after Connor Zilisch broke his collarbone at Watkins Glen International last weekend.
Mike Forde, Managing Director of Racing Communications at NASCAR, provided the update during this week's episode of the "Hauler Talk" podcast. He noted that NASCAR will not legislate the celebrations, nor will it prevent drivers from standing on their car window sills for celebration photos.
However, those in charge will pay extra attention to the location of the window net after Zilisch noted that he had slipped on it.
"I think that was part of the problem that the window net was flapping on the outside," Forde said. "I think Connor even said that may have been a problem, and one of our safety guys actually mentioned the same thing. So, we may do just sort of a check to make sure that if that's inside the car, it's one less thing you can slip on."
Questions about the victory lane celebrations have circulated after Zilisch's fall and injury, especially after he appeared on the "Door, Bumper, Clear" podcast. Zilisch relayed information from an unidentified Cup Series driver, who told him that NASCAR had shut down this style of celebration during the pre-Watkins Glen driver meeting.
Shane van Gisbergen, the winner of the Cup Series race, furthered some of these questions during his celebration. He climbed from his No. 88 Chevrolet and stood next to it after pulling into victory lane. He did not climb onto the window sill or the roof.
CAREFULLY CLIMBING OUT IN VICTORY LANE‼️ pic.twitter.com/FBnkCqek4C
— Trackhouse Racing (@TeamTrackhouse) August 10, 2025
According to Forde, NASCAR did not tell drivers that they could not stand on their cars during these victory lane celebrations.
"From my research that has not happened," he said. "We haven't said that we were going to tell people, tell drivers who have won not to step out onto their window and stand there and take the photo and all that.
"So right now, there's no best practices. There's no -- we're not legislating it to your point. We haven't said that the drivers aren't allowed to do this or that or anything else."
While NASCAR is "not legislating" these celebrations, that doesn't mean that drivers will automatically climb onto their window sills while celebrating in victory lane.
Some could choose to take the "safer" route so that they don't have to worry about injuring themselves, missing races, and requesting a waiver. This weekend's trip to Richmond Raceway will provide the first indication.