The Supercars co-driver put a deal together to tackle the event aboard a Nitro Motorsports Toyota Camry TA2 to learn the circuit ahead of his NASCAR Xfinity Series outing next month.
While able to bank some experience, Perkins’ weekend was cruelled by mechanical failures that affected five of the seven track sessions.
Engine and steering issues meant not a single lap was logged across three practice sessions on Friday.
Perkins then qualified fourth on Saturday morning and was running third mid-race when the wiring harness melted on the header pipes and stopped the engine.
After a smooth Sunday morning practice, he started the race second on the grid – courtesy of setting the second-best time in Race 1 – and held that position until another failure struck.
“It’s just frustrating. In 20 years of racing, I’ve never had a weekend quite like that,” Perkins told Speedcafe.
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“Obviously, the primary objective was to log as many laps as possible to prepare for the Xfinity race and we partnered up with a really good team after an introduction from [Joe] Gibbs [Racing].
“There were seven sessions over the weekend, and we saw the chequered flag once, maybe twice. One of them we didn’t even start.
“The potential for doing 150 laps was there for the taking and we’ve probably done 50 or 60 laps, half race distances and a handful of laps in Saturday qualifying and Sunday’s practice.”
Perkins said there were no immediate explanations from the team as to why his car was beset by issues.
“You can’t unscramble the egg now, but we had an immense amount of mechanical issues with our car that none of the other three team cars had,” he said.
“I don’t think there’s a thing called luck in this game. There’s no luck involved in preparation. But it is what it is.
“It still gives us a good opportunity now heading into the race next month to hit the ground running because the track time in the Xfinity Series is so limited.”
The 3.2km Portland road course hosts a standalone Xfinity race on August 30 while the Cup Series competes at Darlington.
“The facility kind of reminds me of a combination of Pukekohe and Calder, meaning it’s pretty outdated,” noted Perkins of the venue.
“The track itself is cool. It is a little like Calder as well because it’s got a drag strip down the front straight.
“It’s obviously one of the well-known tracks in America with IndyCar racing here, it’s got a lot of history.
“I think it’d be a fun track in a Supercar to be honest with you. It’s certainly no Bathurst but it’s more entertaining than Queensland Raceway.”
Perkins will head to the Portland Xfinity race with experience of the track and car, given he scored a last-minute call-up to the Chicago street race earlier this month.
There he showed top five speed in practice and qualifying before being hit from behind in the early laps and taken out of contention.
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