NASCAR
Connor Zilisch Takes Eighth Win of Season from Portland after Hectic Finish
PORTLAND, Ore. – What more needs to be said about Connor Zilisch? The teenaged phenom now has a three-peat of Xfinity Series wins for the second time this season after dominating Portland. Zilisch’s No. 88 Chevrolet was untouchable for the majority of the afternoon, until a late restart. Thanks to another quick caution and overtime, Zilisch had one more shot at the lead and capitalized after avoiding turn one chaos. The generational rookie now has eight victories on the year, with no end in sight for this incredible run.
Zilisch remained undefeated through the opening 67 laps, taking both stages by wide margins. The first caution for an incident flew when Anthony Alfredo stopped on track. This led to a restart that handed Austin Hill the lead. Contact through turn one likewise saw Zilisch suffer damage but continue onward.
The 21’s time out front unchallenged was short; Jack Perkins getting stuck in the grass triggered an overtime restart. Leaders fanned out four-wide at the next green flag, with Hill getting spun in turn one. Zilisch likewise made a last-second dive bomb move into the runoff lane. This allowed him to escape unscathed with the top spot and scoot off to the victory.
“I guess cutting the track was the right move,” Zilisch said. “I don’t know. So proud of this WeatherTech Chevrolet team, I think this is our fourth win with them on the car. It’s got a W on the hood, so no better thing to do than win with it. It’s really cool. To come back two weeks after collarbone surgery, it hurt but it hurt so good. It’s awesome, so proud of this 88 team for such a fun year. Let’s go get ourselves a championship.”
“I ran [the turn one runoff] in practice, and was like ‘man, it’s not really that slow.’ So as soon as I hit the brakes, I don’t know how I wheel hopped, and I just committed to it as soon as I knew I wasn’t making the corner. It worked out, I wasn’t really planning on it but last resort you gotta do what you gotta do.”
Behind Zilisch at the finish were: William Sawalich, Nick Sanchez, Christian Eckes, and Austin Hill. The rest of the top-10 were: Carson Kvapil, Jeb Burton, Austin Green, Blaine Perkins, and Jesse Love.
Zilisch’s teammate Carson Kvapil locked up a Playoff berth on points following Portland. Their regular season finale next week will decide the final three into the 2025 postseason.
The Xfinity Series regular season all comes down to a return trip to Gateway. Marking their first visit to the St. Louis track since 2010, Saturday will set their 12-man Playoff grid. The Nu Way 200 goes green at 7:30 p.m. ET on The CW, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. Can Zilisch possibly score an improbable 14th-straight top-five? He would be one shy of the all-time Xfinity Series record.
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo Credits to David Jensen/Getty Images
