The Xfinity Series caps off a doubleheader Saturday with a little night racing in the northwest for the Pacific Office Automation 147 on the road course at Portland International Raceway.
The drivers have a full 50 minutes for practice before making a qualifying run.
After his fall at Watkins Glen and subsequent surgery for a broken collar bone, Connor Zilisch reports that he has no pain and is no longer giving favour to his injured shoulder.
A near full field of 37 teams have brought cars to Portland for one more trip around the course. It is unknown whether it is just a bit of a break or a complete change, but the road course race at Portland is not on the schedule for any of the three NASCAR series next season.
After putting the car at the top of the leaderboard on speed, Nick Sanchez brings his car to the garage, reporting some kind of issue; a possible axle issue he reports.
Sixteen of the drivers in the race have never been on the course before.
Australian Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen is in Darlington preparing for the Southern 500, but fellow Supercars drivers Will Brown and Jack Perkins are among the field for today’s race.
With a time of 73.641 seconds, Connor Zilisch topped the leaderboard in practice.
The drivers have been divided into two groups for a 20 minute qualifying session.
With a time of 73.380 seconds, Connor Zilisch puts his number 88 car on the pole for the seventh time this season with teammate Justin Allgaier alongside.
The starting lineup for the Pacific Office Automation 147:
Connor Zilisch
Justin Allgaier
Austin Hill
William Sawalich
Sam Mayor
Alon Day
Nick Sanchez
Sammy Smith
Carson Kvapil
Jesse Love
Brandon Jones
Jack Perkins
Taylor Gray
Austin Green
Christian Eckes
Sheldon Creed
Jeb Burton
Harrison Burton
Joey Hand
Ryan Sieg
Anthony Alfredo
Dean Thompson
Blaine Perkins
Matt DiBenedetto
Jeremy Clements
Daniel Dye
Will Brown
Brennan Poole
Parker Retzlaff
Ryan Ellis
Garrett Smithley
Vicente Salas
Kyle Sieg
Josh Williams
Takuma Koga
Thomas Anunnziata
Alex Labbe
All three stages are 25 laps each for 75 laps around the 1.7 mile course.
Taylor Gray and Harrison Burton will have to start the race from the back of the field after the crews made some unapproved adjustments to the cars.
Connor Zilisch brings the field down for the green flag start of the race with teammate Justin Allgaier alongside. Zilisch quickly gets out in front for the lead with Justin Allgaier in second.
Lap two, the top five are Connor Zilisch, Justin Allgaier, Austin Hill, Sam Mayer, and William Sawalich.
Lap three, Connor Zilisch has a lead of over a second on Justin Allgaier. This is Connor Zilisch’s first trip to Portland.
A stand alone event, there are a number of changes, especially pertaining to pit stops and the end of the stages. Stops are “controlled stops” where all of the drivers will come down pit road together and the crews will have three minutes to work on the cars. Drivers will re-enter the race in the same order they came down pit road…unless there is an issue that requires an extended pit stop. Drivers can come down pit road with issues but are only allowed to fuel the cars during the controlled stop. Crews cannot change tires and fuel the car at the same time.
Lap six, Connor Zilisch has pulled out to a lead of three seconds on Justin Allgaier; Austin Hill, Sam Mayer, and William Sawalch continues to round out the top five.
William Sawalich passes Sam Mayer for fourth.
Lap eight, Connor Zilisch continues to extend his lead on Justin Allgaier and is now over four seconds out in front.
Garrett Smithley gets loose and does a little agricultural racing as he spews dirt on the course.
Nick Sanchez had to start the race from the back of the field after the crew had to replace a broken axle; on lap 12, he is in the top 20.
Lap 12, Connor Zilisch has entered “driving it like he stole it” status with a lead over seven seconds in front of the field; Justin Allgaier, Austin Hill, Sam Mayer, and Carson Kvapil round out the top five. William Sawalich gets off the course and off into the grass.
Dean Thompson is sporting the colours of Oregon State University this week. He brings his car down pit road with reports of the engine shutting off.
Vicente Salas gets off the course but keeps moving and the track stays green.
Lap 16, Connor Zilisch continues to increase his lead and is now 10 seconds out in front of Justin Allgaier; Austin Hill, Sam Mayer, and Carson Kvapil round out the top five.
Lap 18, Connor Zilisch continues to increase his lead on teammate Justin Allgaier and is now over 12 seconds out in front.
Just six laps remain in stage one; Connor Zilisch has dominated the race so far leading every lap, starting from the pole, and topping the field in practice. He is now 13 seconds out in front of the field…and he has run the fastest lap in the race.
Austin Hill and Justin Allgaier battle for second with Hill taking the spot.
Three laps remain in stage one. From his on track performance, it is hard to believe that this is the first time that Connor Zilisch has been on the course at Portland.
Dean Thompson gets off the course; the track stays green.
Connor Zilisch has begun lapping slower traffic.
Matt DiBenedetto is stopped off the track. He tumbles out of a smoking car. He is sitting in the grass beside the car taking his shoes off.
With a lead of 15 seconds, Connor Zilisch wins stage one for his seventh stage win of the season.
The top 10 at the end of stage one:
Connor Zilisch
Austin Hill
Justin Allgaier
Sam Mayer
William Sawalich
Carson Kvapil
Jesse Love
Brandon Jones
Jack Perkins
Sheldon Creed
Out of the care center, Matt DiBenedetto reported a fire in the car around his feet. While working his way out of the car, a shoelace got stuck around the pedal.
Connor Zilisch brings the field down for the green flag start of stage two on lap 29. Austin Hill goes side by side with Zilisch with Conner getting out in front.
The top five are Connor Zilisch, Austin Hill, Justin Allgaier, Sam Mayer, and Carson Kvapil.
Ryan Sieg was caught speeding on pit road and had to restart the race form the back of the field.
Lap 31, Connor Zilisch has pulled out to a lead of over a second on Austin Hill.
There are 32 cars on the lead lap with Matt DiBenedetto out of the race.
Harrison Burton gets off the course after some on track contact but gets the car moving again. Burton is the last car on the lead lap in 32nd place.
Lap 33, Connor Zilisch’s lead is up to 2.5 seconds on Austin Hill; Justin Allgaier, Sam Mayer, and Carson Kvapil round out the top five.
Sheldon Creed, Jesse Love, and Jack Perkins battle for 8th, 9th, and 10th.
Lap 37, Connor Zilisch is pulling away from the field with a lead of over four seconds on Austin Hill; Justin Allgaier, Sam Mayer, and Carson Kvapil round out the top five.
Austin Hill is reporting that the car is jumping out of gear.
Lap 39, Christian Eckes, Sheldon Creed, and Sammy Smith pass Jesse Love; dropping Love to 12th place with a “dinged up” car.
Lap 41, rookie drivers Carson Kvapil and William Sawalich battle for fifth with Brandon Jones looking to take the spot.
A section of the grass is on fire after a driver ran through the grass.
With seven laps remaining in stage two, Connor Zilisch has a lead of nearly six seconds on Austin Hill; Justin Allgaier, Sam Mayer, and William Sawalich round out the top five.
Jeremy Clements made a run through the dirt that stirred up a huge dust cloud.
Five laps remain in stage two with Connor Zilisch seven seconds out in front of the field.
Joey Hand makes an off road excursion but gets back on the course and the track stays green.
Crews have arrived at the fire and hosed it down to put out the fire.
Pulling out to another big lead, Connor Zilisch wins stage two for the stage sweep with a nine second lead on Austin Hill.
The top 10 at the end of stage two:
Connor Zilisch
Austin Hill
Justin Allgaier
William Sawalich
Sam Mayer
Carson Kvapil
Jack Perkins
Brandon Jones
Christian Eckes
Sammy Smith
After earning 20 stage points in the race, Connor Zilisch takes over the points lead from teammate Justin Allgaier.
Drivers come down pit road for service.
Connor Zilisch brings the field down for the green flag start of stage three with Austin Hill alongside on lap 54. Zilisch easily gets back out in front to hold on to the lead.
The top five are Connor Zilisch, Austin Hill, Justin Allgaier, Carson Kvapil, and William Sawlich.
Twenty to go, Connor Zilisch has a lead of over a second on Austin Hill; Justin Allgaier, Carson Kvapil, and William Sawlich round out the top five.
With 16 laps to go, Conner Zilisch has pulled out to a lead of over three seconds on Austin Hill; Justin Allgaier, Carson Kvapil, and William Sawlich round out the top five.
Australian Supercars champion Will Brown was making his Xfinity Series debut today but a cool suit failure and a trackbar mount issue has put an early end to his day.
With 12 laps remaining in the race, the caution flag comes out. Sheldon Creed gets off the track with a flat tire. Thomas Anunnziata and Anthony Alfredo also got off the course with Alfredo coming to a stop on the track to bring out the caution.
Harrison Burton was among the few drivers who came down pit road for fresh tires.
Connor Zilisch brings the field down for the green flag restart with Austin Hill alongside with just seven laps remaining in the race. Austin Hill gets out in front with a push from Carson Kvapil. Connor Zilisch has some damage to his car and is smoking heavily.
The top five are Austin Hill, Connor Zilisch, William Sawalich, Jack Perkins, and Carson Kvapil.
A big crash on the course but the track stays green with Sam Mayer and Christian Eckes. Taylor Gray got off into the grass.
Jack Perkins passes William Sawalich for third.
Jack Perksin gets off into the grass and is having trouble getting the car moving again. He reports that he is stuck.
Four laps to go, Connor Zilisch is on Austin Hill’s bumper.
The fourth caution comes out for Jack Perkins stuck in the grass up near the tire barrier.
Sheldon Creed is the “lucky dog”.
The race goes into overtime!
A few drivers are on pit road for fresh tires and a little damage repair.
Austin Hill brings the field down for the overtime shootout to end the race with Connor Zilisch alongside. In a three wide battle for the lead, Connor Zilisch takes the lead with William Sawalich in second; Nick Sanchez, Christian Eckes, and Carson Kvapil round out the top five.
Connor Zilisch takes the white flag!
The top four drivers are rookies.
Winning race number eight of the season, Connor Zilisch takes the checkered flag. At 19 he is the youngest driver to reach eight wins.
Connor comes out the roof hatch and sits on the roof before sliding over the window frame to exit the car.
The unofficial results of the Pacific Office Automation 147:
Connor Zilisch
Willaim Sawalich
Nick Sanchez
Christian Eckes
Austin Hill
Carson Kvapil
Jeb Burton
Austin green
Blaine Perkins
Jesse Love
Daniel Dye
Harrison Burton
Brennan Poole
Taylor Gray
Justin Allgaier
Jeremy Clements
Brandon Jones
Joey Hand
Aon Day
Ryan Ellis
Sammy Smith
Josh Williams
Ryan Sieg
Garrett Smithley
Kyle Sieg
Sheldon Creed
Thomas Anunnziata
Takuma Koga
Parker Retzlaff
Jack Perkins
Dean Thompson
Anthony Alfredo
Matt DiBenedetto
Will Brown
Alex Labbe
Vicente Salas
Next week the Xfinity Series will finish out the regular season at Kansas and set the playoff field.