![\"Connor](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/GettyImages-2232931801.jpg\")
Credit: NASCAR via Getty Images\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCredit: NASCAR via Getty Images\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Connor Zilisch won his eighth race of the NASCAR Xfinity Series at Portland<\/a> on Saturday, but not everyone was thrilled with how he did it.<\/p>\n The JR Motorsports driver<\/a> dominated the road course race from pole, leading 70 of 78 laps and sweeping both stages on the way to victory, but it was the way he led the first lap of the overtime restart that raised a few eyebrows.<\/p>\n Portland International Raceway\u2019s first two turns are a tight chicane that bunches up the field after a NASCAR-style two-wide restart, and the penalty for missing it is to drive through a set of staggered barriers set up in the infield section. They are meant to slow the cars down to make it a longer route in time, but it doesn\u2019t always turn out that way.<\/p>\n Zilisch missed it once earlier in the race and didn\u2019t lose much track position. On the final restart he locked up his brakes and couldn\u2019t make Turn One then proceeded to drive through the barriers as the next five cars behind him also missed it, but came into contact with each other and fell behind.<\/p>\n SUBSCRIBE TO THE FREE AMERICAN CARS AND RACING NEWSLETTER FOR MORE NASCAR NEWS<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cI ran it in practice and I was like, \u2018man, it\u2019s not really that slow,’\u201d Zilisch said during his post-race interview<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cSo as soon as I hit the brakes, I don\u2019t know how I wheel-hopped and, yea, I kinda just committed to it as soon as I know I wasn\u2019t going to make the corner and, yea it worked out. So, I wasn\u2019t really planning on it, but last resort you gotta do what you gotta do.\u201d<\/p>\n Zilisch didn\u2019t have much to lose as he was already locked into the playoffs and leading the points standings, He also already has a contract with Trackhouse Racing<\/a> to move up to the Cup Series in 2026, so the only thing on the line if he was disqualified was the regular season championship, but NASCAR had already officiated the rule to allow for the drive-through and Zilisch was declared the winner.<\/p>\n It was a hot topic after the race and both Denny Hamlin and Zilisch\u2019s team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. addressed it on their podcasts.<\/p>\n \u201cFrom what I understand, is that Xfinity teams were practicing running that chicane during practice,\u201d Hamlin said on his \u201cActions Detrimental<\/a>\u201d podcast.<\/p>\n \u201cThey were planning on blowing turn one because the net time loss was not substantial, and especially if your\u2019e bottled up on a restart it was actually a gain.\u201d<\/p>\n Hamlin agreed with Zilisch\u2019s \u201cdon\u2019t hate the player,\u201d attitude about using the rules to his advantage and said that his teammate Ty Gibbs told him he did the same thing at a previous Xfinity Series race at Portland in the rain where he went from 26th on a restart to the top 5 by skipping the turns and the traffic that was jammed up in there.<\/p>\n