By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service
PORTLAND, OR – A dramatic overtime pass for the win punctuated a nearly perfect afternoon for JR Motorsports driver Connor Zilisch at Portland (Ore.) International Raceway, where the 19-year old claimed his series-best eighth NASCAR Xfinity Series win of the season – the best series victory total ever for a rookie driver.
Only weeks removed from breaking his collarbone celebrating another win – at the Watkins Glen, N.Y. road course – Zilisch claimed pole position, won both stages, set fastest lap and celebrated it all in Victory Circle of the famed 1.967-mile road course in the scenic Pacific Northwest.
Zilisch led 70 of the race’s 78 laps, his No. 88 JRM Chevrolet crossing the finish line 1.572-seconds ahead of three fellow rookies, Joe Gibbs Racing driver William Sawalich, Big Machine Racing’s Nick Sanchez and Kaulig Racing’s Christian Eckes.
Veteran Austin Hill finished fifth, but the Richard Childress Racing driver was the only other competitor to lead laps (eight) on the day, running on Zilisch’s bumper throughout the bulk of the race before taking the lead on a restart with seven laps remaining in regulation.
Another late race caution shortly thereafter set up the opportunity for Zilisch to get back by Hill, which he did on the ensuing restart in OT even after having to quickly navigate a track run-off area in an intense four-wide scramble for the lead heading into Turn 1.
“To come back two weeks after collarbone surgery, it hurt, but it hurt so good,’’ said a grinning Zilisch, who now has 13 consecutive top-five finishes. “So proud of this 88-team. It’s been such a fun year. Let’s go get ourselves a championship”
Asked about reclaiming the lead even after the evasive action in Turn 1 on that restart, Zilisch said, “It’s kind of funny, I ran it in practice and I was like, ‘it’s not even that slow.
“As soon as I hit the brakes, I wheel-hopped, but kind of committed to it as soon as realized I wasn’t going to make the corner. And it worked out. I wasn’t really planning on it, but last resort you’ve gotta do what you gotta do.’’
For most of the race, Zilisch set a blistering pace. He won the first stage by nearly 15-seconds and the second stage (his eighth stage win of the season) by more than eight-seconds. All the while, Hill and Zilisch’s JRM teammate Justin Allgaier kept him honest seconds behind.
On the restart where Hill claimed the lead, the reigning series champion Allgaier was collected in a frantic four-wide restart and spun out. He pitted before the overtime restart and was able to finish 15th but it cost him dearly in the championship standings.
Allgaier took the green flag at Portland with a three-point lead on Zilisch and took the checkered flag, now trailing his young teammate by 20 points as the series heads into the regular season finale next week.
Rookie Carson Kvapil finished sixth after a solid presence up front all afternoon. Jeb Burton was seventh – an important showing for the Jordan Anderson driver who is just below the 12-driver Playoff cutoff line, 31 points behind his cousin Harrison Burton, who rallied to an impressive 12th place finish after starting at the rear of the field Saturday.
Austin Green turned in another notable road course effort with an eighth place showing, followed by Blaine Perkins and Jesse Love.
One more race remains to formalize the 12-driver field for the 2025 Playoffs. There have been eight race winners and four drivers are currently above the cutoff line on points.
The series moves to Illinois’ World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway next Saturday night (7:30 p.m. ET, The CW, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). It will mark the series’ first race at the 1.250-mile oval since 2010 – a victory by that season’s eventual champion, Brad Keselowski.
Interview:
NASCAR Xfinity Series (Portland International Raceway) race winner Connor Zilisch (No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet) –
Race results:
1. (1) Connor Zilisch #, Chevrolet, 78.
2. (4) William Sawalich #, Toyota, 78.
3. (7) Nick Sanchez #, Chevrolet, 78.
4. (15) Christian Eckes #, Chevrolet, 78.
5. (3) Austin Hill, Chevrolet, 78.
6. (9) Carson Kvapil #, Chevrolet, 78.
7. (17) Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, 78.
8. (14) Austin Green, Chevrolet, 78.
9. (23) Blaine Perkins, Chevrolet, 78.
10. (10) Jesse Love, Chevrolet, 78.
11. (26) Daniel Dye #, Chevrolet, 78.
12. (18) Harrison Burton, Ford, 78.
13. (28) Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, 78.
14. (13) Taylor Gray #, Toyota, 78.
15. (2) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 78.
16. (5) Sam Mayer, Ford, 78.
17. (25) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 78.
18. (11) Brandon Jones, Toyota, 78.
19. (19) Joey Hand, Ford, 78.
20. (6) Alon Day, Toyota, 78.
21. (30) Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, 78.
22. (8) Sammy Smith, Chevrolet, 78.
23. (33) Josh Williams, Chevrolet, 78.
24. (20) Ryan Sieg, Ford, 78.
25. (31) Garrett Smithley, Chevrolet, 78.
26. (34) Kyle Sieg, Chevrolet, 78.
27. (16) Sheldon Creed, Ford, 78.
28. (36) Thomas Annunziata, Chevrolet, 78.
29. (35) Takuma Koga, Toyota, 75.
30. (29) Parker Retzlaff, Chevrolet, Electrical, 74.
31. (12) Jack Perkins, Toyota, Suspension, 71.
32. (22) Dean Thompson #, Toyota, 71.
33. (21) Anthony Alfredo, Chevrolet, Transmission, 63.
34. (24) Matt DiBenedetto, Chevrolet, Suspension, 56.
35. (27) Will Brown, Chevrolet, Suspension, 49.
36. (37) Alex Labbe, Chevrolet, Fuel Pump, 49.
37. (32) Vicente Salas, Chevrolet, 43.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 66.688 mph.
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 18 Mins, 15 Secs. Margin of Victory: 1.572 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 4 for 14 laps.
Lead Changes: 2 among 2 drivers.
Lap Leaders: C. Zilisch # 1-67;A. Hill 68-75;C. Zilisch # 76-78.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Connor Zilisch # 2 times for 70 laps; Austin Hill 1 time for 8 laps.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 88,21,7,41,18,1,2,20,19,00
Stage #2 Top Ten: 88,21,7,18,41,1,19,20,16,8
