The Joe Gibbs Racing driver got loose out of the Turn 11 chicane and drifted off the road, through the dirt, and got bogged. With Perkins stopped, the caution was drawn.
It was a devastating end to a stellar run for the Supercars co-driver, who was catching race leader Austin Hill and second-placed Connor Zilisch before his off-road moment.
The caution to recover Perkins set up a frantic overtime finish, which saw JR Motorsports driver Connor Zilisch come out on top in the #88 Chevrolet Camaro despite short-cutting the chicane.
Sammy Smith in the #8 JR Motorsports Camaro spun off the nose of the #48 Big Machine Racing Camaro driven by Nick Sanchez, which scattered the field.
“I’m so proud of this WeatherTech Chevrolet team. I think this is our fourth win with WeatherTech on the car,” said Zilisch.
“It’s got a W on the hood, so no better thing to do than win with it. It was really cool. To come back two weeks after collarbone surgery, it hurt, but it hurt so good.
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“It’s awesome, man. I’m so proud of this #88 team. It’s been such a fun year. Let’s go get ourselves a championship.”
NASCAR does not sanction drivers for short-cutting the chicane, which is seen as self-penalising for the tight barrier matrix set-up in the run-off.
“It’s kind of funny,” said Zilisch. “I ran it in practice and I was like, man, it’s not really that slow.
“As soon as I hit the brakes, I don’t know how I wheel-hopped, I kind of just committed to it as soon as I knew I wasn’t going to make the corner and it worked out.
“I wasn’t really planning on it — but last resort, you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.”
WHAT A FINISH!!!@ConnorZilisch captures his 8th #XfinitySeries victory of the season with a dramatic overtime win in Portland! pic.twitter.com/IIOZHy14A8
— The CW Sports (@TheCW_Sports) August 31, 2025
Zilisch led the race from the green flag. Behind him, Australia’s leading interest Perkins was quick away, getting to ninth at the end of Lap 1.
At the back of the field, Brown shot from 37th to 27th in one lap but fell back to 30th by Lap 10.
The first stage was a relatively uneventful affair. It ended under yellow when Matt DiBenedetto parked his car out of Turn 7 with a footwell fire.
Zilisch dominated the first 25 laps, leading by nearly 15 seconds to take the green-chequered flag. He led Austin Hill, who overcame second place starter Justin Allgaier midway through the stage.
William Sawalich ran fourth for much of the stage until he bowled a wide exiting the Turn 11 chicane and dropped to fifth. Mayer inherited fourth ahead of Sawalich, Carson Kvapil, Jesse Love, Brandon Jones, Perkins and Sheldon Creed.
.@mattdracing talks about the scary incident that had him engulfed in flames at the end of Stage 1. pic.twitter.com/cV6bVHQNvm
— The CW Sports (@TheCW_Sports) August 31, 2025
Zilisch held off a spirited challenge from Hill on the Lap 29 restart and set about stretching his legs again at the front of the field.
On Lap 36, Sawalich got into the back of Love after the #2 Richard Childress Racing Camaro blocked under brakes into Turn 1. Love lost out to Jones in the #20 Joe Gibbs Racing Supra too.
Perkins and Creed soon ranged up on Love. As they sought to pass the ailing #2 Camaro, Perkins got into the side of Creed and cast the #00 Haas Factory Team Mustang wide and off the road at Turn 4. Shortly thereafter, Perkins had Love.
The No. 19 of Jack Perkins gets stuck off-track and we’re going to have a late #XfinitySeries restart (or multiple) to decide this one. pic.twitter.com/bPQ1zYn0yH
— Xfinity Racing (@XfinityRacing) August 31, 2025
On Lap 43, Perkins caught the three-car battle for sixth led by Sawalich (#18 Joe Gibbs Racing Supra) with Kvapil (#1 JR Motorsports Camar) and Jones (#20 Joe Gibbs Racing Supra) in tow. On Lap 49, and with two to go in Stage 2, Jones passed Kvapil out of the final turn.
With one to go in the stage, Jones went deep into Turn 1 and opened the door for Kvapil. The #20 Supra and #1 Camaro went side-by-side through the chicane, which compromised Jones and allowed Perkins through at Turn 3.
At the end of the stage, Brown retired his #11 Kaulig Racing Camaro car after a rear track bar mount failure.
Perkins made a good getaway on the Stage 3 restart with 21 laps to go and got to the inside of Jones at Turn 4 before getting the pass done at Turn 7.
The Aussie continued to push, getting alongside Mayer (#41 Haas Factory Team Mustang) into Turn 1 on the inside, which turned to the outside at Turn 2, and got the pass done on the inside at Turn 3.
A chaotic restart sees @_AustinHill claim the lead from @ConnorZilisch! pic.twitter.com/Rp41kTmnyi
— The CW Sports (@TheCW_Sports) August 31, 2025
The caution came out with 10 laps to go for Creed, who spun through the chicane.
There was bedlam on the restart with eight laps to go. Hill got a great getaway from the outside of the final turn and cleared Zilisch into Turn 1.
Behind them, Sawalich divebombed the five cars ahead of him from sixth and backed his car into the side of Zilisch, whose right rear quarter-panel caved in and began rubbing on the tyre. Allgaeir in the #7 JR Motorsports Camaro spun at Turn 2 off the nose of his teammate Kvapil.
Hill led Zilisch and Kvapil with Perkins escaping the carnage to be a fourth. Kvapil suddenly faded out of the final turn a lap later and Perkins passed him for third. However, it was short-lived.
With just four laps to go, Perkins went off the road and parked his car just short of the tyre barrier at the final turn, drawing the caution.
That set up an overtime finish. After his earlier heroics, Hill couldn’t replicate the feat and was slow away on the restart.
Zilisch wheel-hopped and elected to skip the chicane. He left the chaos in his wake to take the chequered flag ahead of Sawalich and Sanchez.
Perkins was classified 31st and seven laps down at the end of the race while Brown was 35th.
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