"Don’t hate the player": Connor Zilisch responds to Bubba Wallace's spotter’s critique of aggressive racing

The Pacific Office Automation 147 held at the Portland International Raceway was won by Connor Zilisch in a chaotic overtime restart that saw the majority of the field cut the first chicane. Subsequently, Bubba Wallace's spotter, Freddie Kraft, took a dig at the Xfinity Series field for not following the track limits, to which the 19-year-old responded and asserted that the drivers were not in the wrong.

The Xfinity Series race at Portland saw Zilisch put in a magnificent drive for the entirety of the 78 laps. The JRM driver was the fastest in the practice session and claimed the pole position ahead of the race on Saturday.

He then securely made his way through the race start and sailed to a comfortable two-stage victory with massive gaps to his closest rival out on track. However, an incident on lap 69 relegated him to P2, as he set out on a pursuit to dethrone Austin Hill from the lead of the race.

This opportunity arose when a caution for Jack Perkins' stranded car came out, and Connor Zilisch got the jump on Hill on the restart of the race. But, he was unable to make the first corner, much like the rest of the field, which quickly became a talking point in the NASCAR sphere, as Kraft bemoaned drivers not adhering to the track configuration, as he wrote on X:

"Someone should give @CarsonKvapil a trophy for actually running turn 1. Already looking forward to Monday morning after that one."

Replying to Kraft's post, the Charlotte-born driver replied:

"Don’t hate the player Freddie🤷‍♂️"

Connor Zilisch

@ConnorZilisch

Don’t hate the player Freddie🤷‍♂️

Zilisch led a staggering 70 of the 78 laps around the sub-two-mile track.

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Connor Zilisch opens up on how he had already tested the run-off earlier in the weekend before his last lap manoeuvre

Connor Zilisch after winning the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series Race at Watkins Glen - Source: Imagn

Connor Zilisch has been the most dominant driver in the Xfinity Series field since the start of the 2025 season. His win at Portland led to his win tally jumping up to eight (the victory at Daytona was credited to Zilisch as he started the race).

With him having recovered to battle out the Xfinity Series field in a full-race distance, the 19-year-old continued on his pursuit of excellence in Portland. Sharing how he had tried out going through the penalty boards earlier in the weekend, Zilisch said (via NASCAR's official website):

"To come back two weeks after collarbone surgery, it hurt, but it hurt so good. So proud of this 88 team. It’s been such a fun year. Let’s go get ourselves a championship."

"It’s kind of funny, I ran it in practice and I was like, ‘it’s not even that slow. As soon as I hit the brakes, I wheel-hopped, but kind of committed to it as soon as I realized 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."

Connor Zilisch heads into the Xfinity Series regular season finale at World Wide Technology Raceway with a 20-point lead over his nearest rival, Justin Allgaier, in the championship standings.