"It's just not a good design": Dale Earnhardt Jr. slams Portland layout following Connor Zilisch's controversial overtime move

Dale Earnhardt Jr. has addressed Connor Zilisch's controversial win at Portland International Speedway. The Xfinity and Cup Series veteran blamed the track layout for its flawed design and argued that many drivers cut the chicane to avoid getting into each other.

Zilisch won the 78-lap event at Portland, but the victory came at the hands of a contentious overtime finish. He cut the Turn 2 chicane and went through the run-off lane without much time lost.

At that point in the race, he was out front as the field stacked up four-wide behind him. While the rest of the cars went ahead, not all of them made the turn in its entirety. Nick Sanchez turned in early and spun out Sammy Smith in the process, while the other drivers beside him had no choice but to follow suit and cut the corner.

Reflecting upon the same on his Dale Jr Download podcast, Earnhardt said (via YouTube):

"I just feel like that, that type of a turn being the first... that being the very first turn you're going to enter after a restart for any racetrack is a bad idea. It's just not a good design. Sorry." (6:30 onwards)

"I mean we're four wide on that final restart. We're four wide and the majority of the cars missed the inner, cut the inner curb," Dale Earnhardt Jr. added.

Denny Hamlin also weighed in on the situation and broke down Connor Zilisch's reasoning behind the move. Notably, Zilisch had previously taken the shortcut when he was left no space heading into the chicane, and nobody complained of the move then. Nonetheless, NASCAR's rulebook allows it, and Zilisch faced no consequences on either occasion.

The result placed Zilisch atop the driver standings with a 20-point lead over his JR Motorsports teammate and reigning champion, Justin Allgaier. He also leads the playoff picture with eight wins to his name.

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Dale Earnhardt Jr. predicts changes to playoff format

Dale Earnhardt Jr. outlined his views on NASCAR's championship format and the potential tweaks that can make it better. He called for a three-race title decider to replace the current Championship Four round.

"If I had to guess we're looking at probably a three or four race round to decide the title. No matter how it's won, it's won, but I think we can all agree that there's not a perfect system. There never will be a perfect playoff format, never. But we all do think that there needs to be a little bit bigger of a sample size of final races for that final round," Dale Earnhardt Jr. said (via X/Dirty Mo Media).

Chase Briscoe, who won the playoff opener at Darlington Raceway, joined the Dale Jr. Download podcast and relayed the same message. He preferred the 10-race chase format that was initially introduced, but acknowledged that a three-race final round was a 'good option'.