No luck for NASCAR Xfinity Aussies

Aussie duo Jack Perkins and Will Brown showed plenty of promise in Portland, but sadly, things did not fall their way in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

The Supercars drivers had fought hard to get themselves within sight of top 10 finishes before things unravelled.

Leading the charge was Perkins, who looked set to secure a strong third and even fight for victory in the closing stages.

Starting 12th, some strong moves early on saw the #19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota rise into the top 10 in the early laps.

Perkins held firm, finishing the first two stages ninth and seventh, respectively, but he only kept rising.

The son of Larry rose to third and was closing in on leaders Connor Zilisch and Austin Hill.

However, Perkins threw away hopes of an impressive podium finish by spearing off at Turn 12 with just nine laps to go.

Perkins ran wide and could not save the car after finding the exit kerb and came to a stop just before the tyre wall.

The mistake saw him forced to settle for 31st.

Brown started on the back foot from the rear of the grid, but he also carved through the pack in the Kaulig Racing Chevrolet.

He took just 25 laps to charge up to ninth, but by Lap 49 it was all over with the reigning Supercars champion retiring due to a broken right side trackbar mount.

Up front, it was a familiar story with Zilisch holding off Hill in Overtime to enjoy a perfect return from injury.

After a heated battle with SVG, Zilisch won the last Xfinity Series road course race at Watkins Glen.

But when celebrating in victory lane, he fell from his car in horrific style and broke his collarbone.

But just three weeks later, the Trackhouse Racing rising star was back in victory lane and celebrated victory in style.

He led 70 of the 78 laps and finished 1.5s clear of Will Sawalich.

Post race, Zilisch was so happy he was recalling the lyrics of John Mellencamp.

“To come back two weeks after collarbone surgery, it hurt, but it hurt so good,” said a grinning Zilisch, who now has 13 consecutive top-five finishes. “So proud of this 88 team. It’s been such a fun year. Let’s go get ourselves a championship.”

Despite the dominance, it was far from a simple drive for Zilisch as he had to reclaim the lead after evasive action at Turn 1 in the restart.

“It’s kind of funny, I ran it in practice and I was like, ‘it’s not even that slow.’ He said.

“As soon as I hit the brakes, I wheel-hopped, but kind of committed to it as soon as I realised I wasn’t going to make the corner and it worked out. 

“I wasn’t really planning on it, but last resort, you’ve gotta do what you gotta do.”

Image: JGR

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