The NASCAR Xfinity Series is in the heart of its 2024 season, with 10 races completed and two more to go before the racing action comes to Portland International Raceway for the third annual Pacific Office Automation 147 race on Saturday, June 1.
In the race for the season championship, Chandler Smith in the No. 81 Toyota has the slightest of leads. He's just 1 point ahead of Cole Custer in the No. 00 Ford. Custer won the 2023 Xfinity Series race here in Portland by just 0.142 seconds over Justin Allgaier. The two raced side-by-side down the front straight to the checkered flag. In third position 17 points behind the leader is Austin Hill, driver of the No. 21 Chevrolet. Hill won the first two races of this season, but has not stood atop the podium since February.
Portland's 2022 Xfinity winner AJ Allmendinger, driving the No. 16 Chevrolet, is currently in 7th place in the season standings, so he'll be looking back to his Xfinity and 2006 IndyCar victories here to improve his position.
"2022 it was such a crazy race with all the rain there," Allmendinger said. "The guys that were there last year and running the whole time in good weather probably have a little bit of advantage. I'm trying to watch a lot of video of last year's race and just learn the racetrack. But it's a place that I have great memories. It's very special to me for winning my first Champ car race, and to be able to win the first Xfinity race there in a long time and have my dad at both of those races. So yeah, it will always be a special racetrack to me for those reasons."
As with any racing series, building a winning program takes time and effort. Allmendinger is putting in the work to be ready to run up front.
"When it comes to our Xfinity program, we're just trying to get it to where it needs to be," he explained. "I think we're making gains slowly. Hopefully by the time we get to Portland we learned even more and have more speed in the race cars. I think at the end of last year, our road course program had fallen a little bit behind. We worked hard in the off-season and at Circuit of the Americas in Texas we had a lot of speed again. So that gives us confidence going into Portland."
The Xfinity Series race at Portland will be divided into three 25-lap "stages" in which drivers can earn points, plus points for the overall 75-lap victory. Unlike last year's race, fast pit stops will be allowed and this adds back an element of strategy that had been removed. Spending some time in the pits to take on tires and fuel can give a driver an advantage, or create a disadvantage. Xfinity series pit stops can take longer than other series because the cars use a traditional 5-lug wheel rather than a single lug nut per tire.
"My teammate Shane Van Gisbergen is so good at the road courses," Allmendinger said. "Being a three-time supercar champion in Australia, he's got everything in his background for road course racing. I think he's the guy to beat. Last year in Portland, Justin Allgaier should have won the race. I think he'll be really good there. But I have confidence in our ability and our race car. If we're at our best, we'll be one of the guys running up front. Road course racing in NASCAR can be crazy! Plus, this year we're back to real pit stops. So we'll have that strategy play into it instead of just having the stage breaks."
The Pacific Office Automation 147 will start at 1:30 pm on Saturday, June 1 at Portland International Raceway. Additional racing from the ARCA Menards Series and PRO3 BMW series will happen on Friday, May 31. Tickets to the Xfinity Series event are on sale now at raceportland.com/nascar.
