Shocker… Connor Zilisch will be leading the field to green for Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series event at Portland International Raceway.
The 19-year-old rookie, who had surprisingly never seen the Portland, Oregon-based racetrack before this weekend, posted the quickest time in Saturday’s qualifying session, beating out his JR Motorsports teammate Justin Allgaier.
Zilisch was able to lay down a flying lap of 73.380 seconds (96.648mph) on his single lap during the session, easily collecting the pole by four tenths of a second.
“I’m really proud of this No. 88 WeatherTech Chevrolet team, our car is as fast as Xfinity Mobile, just like every other week we show up at the racetrack,” Zilisch said. “I don’t want to get used to it, but it’s fun getting to go to the track every week and knowing you have a shot.”
STARTING LINEUP: 2025 NXS Pacific Office Automation 147 at Portland
A native of Mooresville, North Carolina, Zilisch is about three weeks removed from breaking his left collarbone in a fall off his racecar at Watkins Glen, which forced him to jump out of his racecar early at Daytona — making way for Parker Kligerman to bring the No. 88 to Victory Lane.
The JR Motorsports driver plans to run the entire event on Saturday and will look to further expand upon his hopes to win the regular-season championship.
His biggest adversary in that battle, though, Justin Allgaier, is set to start alongside him on Saturday. Austin Hill will roll from third place, and fellow rookie driver William Sawalich will start fourth.
Sam Mayer, winner at Iowa Speedway earlier this month, will round out the top five.
Alon Day, making a one-off start in the second Sam Hunt Racing entry, will roll from an impressive sixth place. Nick Sanchez, JR Motorsports teammates Sammy Smith and Carson Kvapil, and Jesse Love will round out the top-10.
Other notables starting outside the top-10 include Brandon Jones (11th), Jack Perkins (12th), Taylor Gray (13th), Christian Eckes (15th), Sheldon Creed (16th), Daniel Dye (26th), and Will Brown (27th).
Joey Hand (19th), Will Brown (27th), and Takuma Koga (35th) will be making their NASCAR Xfinity Series debuts in Saturday evening’s event on the West Coast.
The Portland Office Automation 147 at Portland International Raceway will get underway on Saturday, August 30, at 7:30 pm ET on The CW, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
