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PORTLAND, OREGON – AUGUST 30: Connor Zilisch, driver of the #88 WeatherTech Chevrolet, celebrates after winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series Pacific Office Automation 147 at Portland International Raceway on August 30, 2025 in Portland, Oregon. (Photo by David Jensen/Getty Images)
The winner of six of the past seven NASCAR Xfinity Series events, rookie Connor Zilisch became bored.
Pulling away from the field for long stretches last Saturday at Portland International Speedway, Zilisch led for the initial 67 laps, claiming the first green-flag stage by 14 seconds and the second by eight.
The series’ points leader was looking for some action.
“Yeah, it’s tough you know, when you’re leading by that much and just kind of out front by yourself,” Zilisch said, as reported by Motorsport.com. “It gets boring, you know. It’s hard to believe, but you know, it does get boring when you’re just making laps and they keep telling you to slow down, slow down, slow down. And as a race car driver you don’t wanna slow down.”
Zilisch eventually got his wish over the final two restarts. His boring drive ended quickly.
On the penultimate restart, Austin Hill claimed the lead, and Zilisch, who is competing with a broken collarbone, took a detour through the chicane maze after William Sawalich locked up and re-entered P2. The final restart resulted in Zilisch encountering more trouble, navigating the maze again, and coming out in front of a melee.
“You know, a pretty crazy race,” Zilisch said. “I feel like we had a dominant car all day long and yeah, all of a sudden it, it turned into a bit of a mess with those late race restarts and just glad we were able to come out on top and get ourselves a win and what we deserved.
“I feel like it would’ve definitely been unfortunate to not win that one.”
With one regular-season race remaining at World Wide Technology Raceway, Zilisch leads JR Motorsports teammate Justin Allgaier by 20 points in the drivers’ standings.
NASCAR Xfinity Series Nu Way 200 Sauced by Blues Hog Entry List
NASCAR Xfinity Series officials released the entry list for Saturday’s Nu Way 200 Sauced by Blues Hog at World Wide Technology Raceway:
Entry, Driver, Car No.
1, Sheldon Creed, No. 00 Ford
2, Carson Kvapil, No. 1 Chevrolet
3, Jesse Love, No. 2 Chevrolet
4, Parker Retzlaff, No. 4 Chevrolet
5, Nick Leitz, No. 07 Chevrolet
6, Justin Allgaier, No. 7 Chevrolet
7, Sammy Smith, No. 8 Chevrolet
8, Daniel Dye, No. 10 Chevrolet
9, Daniel Hemric, No. 11 Chevrolet
10, Garrett Smithley, No. 14 Chevrolet
11, Christian Eckes, No. 16 Chevrolet
12, Corey Day, No. 17 Chevrolet
13, William Sawalich, No. 18 Toyota
14, Justin Bonsignore, No. 19 Toyota
15, Brandon Jones, No. 20 Toyota
16, Austin Hill, No. 21 Chevrolet
17, Harrison Burton, No. 25 Ford
18, Dean Thompson, No. 26 Toyota
19, Jeb Burton, No. 27 Chevrolet
20, Kyle Sieg, No. 28 Ford
21, Blaine Perkins, No. 31 Chevrolet
22, Jordan Anderson, No. 32 Chevrolet
23, TBA, No. 35 Toyota
24, Ryan Sieg, No. 39 Ford
25, Sam Mayer, No. 41 Ford
26, Anthony Alfredo, No. 42 Chevrolet
27, Brennan Poole, No. 44 Chevrolet
28, Lavar Scott, No. 45 Chevrolet
29, Nick Sanchez, No. 48 Chevrolet
30, Jeremy Clements, No. 51 Chevrolet
31, Joey Gase, No. 53 Ford
32, Taylor Gray, No. 54 Toyota
33, Thomas Annunziata, No. 70 Chevrolet
34, Ryan Ellis, No. 71 Chevrolet
35, Dawson Cram, No. 74 Chevrolet
36, Kole Raz, No. 76 Ford
37, Connor Zilisch, No. 88 Chevrolet
38, Matt Mills, No. 91 Chevrolet
39, Matt DiBenedetto, No. 99 Chevrolet
40, Stefan Parsons, No. 105 Chevrolet
NASCAR National Series Schedule
Here is the weekend schedule for the NASCAR National Series events at World Wide Technology Raceway. All times are ET:
Friday
Xfinity Series practice, 5:05 p.m.
Saturday
Xfinity Series qualifying, 3 p.m.
Cup Series practice, 4:30 p.m.
Cup Series qualifying, 5:40 p.m.
Xfinity Series Nu Way 200 Sauced by Blues Hog race, 7:30 p.m.
Sunday
Cup Series Enjoy Illinois 300 race, 3 p.m.
Springfield, get ready!🏁
NASCAR Xfinity Series Champion and hometown favorite Justin Allgaier is bringing Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kelley Earnhardt Miller, and Wyatt Miller with him for a special event ahead of World Wide Technology Raceway. Join us next Wednesday, September 3 for… pic.twitter.com/YHkmuegXrr
— BRANDT (@BRANDT_co) August 27, 2025
Jeff Hawkins Jeff Hawkins is a career sportswriter who has collected 12 industry awards, including two Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE) honors. Author of four youth sports books, Hawkins has served as a beat writer for the Carolina Panthers, Chicago Blackhawks, Adirondack IceHawks, Adirondack Lumberjacks and Hickory Crawdads. A husband and father, Hawkins enjoys live eclectic music, mountain biking and watching Film Noir. More about Jeff Hawkins
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