Connor Zilisch confident after watching 'highlight reel' ahead of Portland Xfinity Series race

Ahead of the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Portland International Raceway, Connor Zilisch is feeling confident. He should. The driver is on the pole and has dominated the road courses and the series lately.

Connor Zilisch has won at COTA, Sonoma, and Watkins Glen. He was P2 to SVG at Chicago. He should have won the Mexico City race. With six pole awards this season, seven wins (thanks Parker Kligerman), and 12 straight top-fives, Zilisch has reason to be confident.

On the mic, Zilisch is about as good as he is in the car. Talking to The CW ahead of tonight’s race at Portland, Zilisch noticed something – his highlight reel keeps getting longer week after week.

“Yeah, first of all, it’s pretty cool. Every time you interview me, my highlight reel keeps getting longer,” Zilisch said, smiling. “Yeah, it’s been a great year and this day’s going to be tough. You know, this track’s really tricky because of all the dirt that gets thrown up. But I know our WeatherTech Chevrolet will be as fast as Xfinity Mobile and give us a shot to get in Victory Lane. So, I just gotta do my job.”

Connor Zilisch has lived up to expectations this season. It was like a switch flipped after his back injury in the Talladega race. Since then, he has been almost flawless. There isn’t much that he has left to prove in the Xfinity Series at this point.

Connor Zilisch fighting for regular season title

The two drivers who are battling within single digits over the regular season title will start on the front row today. Connor Zilisch P1, Justin Allgaier P2. Allgaier took the lead back after Daytona, despite Kligerman winning for Zilisch.

Today’s road course race has a twist – non-competitive pit stops. So, there won’t be any cutting stages short and trying to flip the field. Instead, we are going to see the fastest cars stay up front as long as they can manage it, and avoid any major issues on pit road.

Allgaier has been really good this season. But the second half of the year, Zilisch has managed to close the gap and make this regular-season championship a real race. Don’t sleep on Sam Mayer, either. If something happens with the two leaders, Mayer is only 29 points back and is looking for an opportunity to steal that championship.

Connor Zilisch is looking for another win. Can anyone keep up with him at Portland?