Young phenom Connor Zilisch continued his domination Saturday at Portland International Raceway, securing his NASCAR Xfinity rookie record eighth win despite missing turn one twice late in the race.
It culminated more than two hours of action as powerful engines roared and stock cars thundered their way around the road course. There was a car completely painted in Oregon State orange-and-black and a large Beaver logo on the hood.
In the end, despite the rookie star winning again, fans left the Pacific Office Automation 147 feeling a little empty, as it’s the last NASCAR Xfinity race at PIR for the time being.
NASCAR’s second-tier series has raced at Portland since 2022, but it is off the next year’s schedule. A street course at Naval Base Coronado in San Diego, Calif. has been added and PIR road course dropped on the 2026 series schedule.
There are rising stars, competitive racers and veterans in the Xfinity Series, which changes to the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series next season. They’ll be racing elsewhere next year, not at PIR.
“Very sad,” said Brenda Nelson, a Friends of PIR member from Central Oregon. She volunteered for the race along with more than 100 others, including friend Susan Thorn of Battle Ground, Washington. They attend races every week at PIR, and seeing NASCAR depart hurts.
“Wheels going around — doesn’t take much for us (to be excited). Fast cars, the sounds … and this is family,” Thorn said. Nelson said it’s a strong “culture” event.
“Really unfortunate,” said Kaden Fritzler of Roseburg. “It was the only (big) NASCAR event in the Northwest.”
Indeed, Hit Machine and Wrangler played live music and classic country rock and more blared over the loudspeakers — “Sweet Home Alabama” and the like. American flags were aplenty, although not visible “Trump” stuff. No official attendance was given, but RV spots appeared to be full, first-turn “Shelton’s Corner” seating had plenty of inhabitants and pit road plenty of spectators — although front-stretch grandstands had many vacancies.
There was an interesting subplot to Saturday’s race, as Dean Thompson drove the No. 26 Thompson Pipe Group GR Supra Toyota Camry of Sam Hunt Racing that was adorned with Oregon State University colors and a huge Beaver logo on the hood. It’s the third NASCAR partnership with an NCAA school this year.
Thompson and a show car made an appearance in Corvallis at Reser Stadium’s Parker Plaza on Friday.
Sam Hunt Racing’s No. 26 Toyota, driven by Dean Thompson, is dressed out with Oregon State University sponsorship for Saturday’s race at Portland International Raceway.Jason Vondersmith/For The Oregonian
“As Oregon’s statewide university, we’re proud to welcome NASCAR back to Portland and share our pride with the many Beaver Nation NASCAR fans,” said Rob Odom, OSU’s vice president of University Relations and Marketing
“I was all for it,” said Thompson, 24 and from Anaheim, California. “I like the logo — it’s a lot of fun. There have been a lot of people talking about it.”
Thompson, who has six top-10 finishes and decent races on road courses, qualified 22nd and appeared to lose power on lap 13 and then went off the track on lap 16 (while eight laps behind Zilisch). He finished 32nd in the 37-car field, seven laps down.
VIP tickets were raffled off at the Corvallis event, and they went to a big Beaver fan (Kaden Fritzler) and a Washington Husky (his father, Brad Fritzler, of Corvallis). They got to meet Thompson and crew and be around the car and pits.
“It’s great to have Oregon State representation in NASCAR,” said Kaden, who wore an OSU hat to the race. “It’s a great way to make fans — sponsoring a NASCAR ride.”
Count Brad among the disappointed NASCAR fans with the Portland race departure. He and his son have attended three of the four PIR events.
“They are some of the best drivers in the world,” he said. “Fender to fender, bumper to bumper, bare-knuckle racing.”
Another fan, who only went by “Scott,” might have said it best: “I was hoping it would go the other way — and Cup (Series) and maybe the Trucks would come to Portland.”
PORTLAND, OREGON – AUGUST 30: Connor Zilisch, driver of the #88 WeatherTech Chevrolet, leads the field to start the NASCAR Xfinity Series Pacific Office Automation 147 at Portland International Raceway on August 30, 2025 in Portland.Getty Images
Zilisch, 19 and from Charlotte, N.C,, piloting the No. 88 Weathertech Chevy Camaro of JR Motorsports — Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s team, had the series wins record of eight in sight. Zilisch, leading for the first 68 laps, faced a late challenge when he overshot the first turn after a restart with seven laps remaining. Despite going off track, he recovered through ‘Shelton’s Corner’ to regain second place.
On another yellow flag and restart with a two-lap overtime, Zilisch sprinted ahead of Hill but missed the first turn again but he quickly righted himself and came out of “Shelton’s Corner” with the lead and went on to win his eighth race.
“It’s not really slow (corner),” Zilisch said, of his first turn mishaps and recoveries. “As soon as I hit the brakes, I just committed to it. Worked out. I wasn’t really planning on it, but last resort, you gotta do what you gotta do.”
He has signed to race in the Cup Series for Trackhouse Racing in 2026.
The win came 21 days after a mishap at Watkins Glen, in which he climbed out of his cockpit in victory lane and promptly got his feet caught in window netting and fell hard to the ground. He had surgery on a broken collarbone, but he started the next race at Daytona — and substitute driver Parker Kligerman finished it for Zilisch’s seventh win.
“It hurt, but it hurts so good,” he said, of the collarbone.
Zilisch won the first two stages of the 75-lap race at PIR before the late restart mishaps, and goes into the series’ final regular-season race, before the series playoffs, with the points lead over Justin Allgaier and Sam Mayer, who each had late issues and fell back in the field. Allgaier is second and Mayer third in points.
“It’s got a W on the hood,” Zilisch said, of his sponsor’s initial. “No better thing to do than win with it.
“So proud of this 88 team. It’s been such a fun year.”
BrieflyZilisch was the top qualifier, just missing Mayer’s track record for stock cars last year (73.3751 seconds, 96.654 mph) on the 1.97-mile, 12-turn road course.Zilisch, who has won five road course races, had tied Christopher Bell (2018) for series rookie wins in a season.Zilisch tied the series record for consecutive top-5 finishes (13).No serious incidents happened in the race, save for a few drivers going off track. The stock cars cut all the corners, too, going partly off pavement, unlike the more fragile IndyCar machines.Greg Biffle, the retired NASCAR Cup driver who grew up in Camas, competed in Friday’s ARCA Menards Series West race. Biffle, who won 19 Cup races during his career, placed fourth. William Sawalich won, and then performed well the next day in the Xfinity Series race.PIR race winners in the Xfinity Series were Zilisch (2025), Shane van Gisbergen (2024), Cole Custer (2023) and A.J. Allmendinger (2022).It’s not official, as IndyCar Series hasn’t announced its 2026 schedule, but PIR will remain on the circuit, sources say.
If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.