Dale Jr. Loses His Calm as He Endorses NASCAR for Dumping 61 YO Track

Time to close the gates of another NASCAR venue. Connor Zilisch rebounded from his collarbone injury and dominated Portland International Raceway. Zilisch dominated for 70 of 76 laps, sweeping both stages of the race. Despite Zilisch clinching his season’s 8th victory, which crowns Dale Jr.’s prodigal driver as the best rookie in Xfinity history, his venue of glory will no longer remain.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s prodigal driver faced hiccups on the final two restarts. The reasons for that late-race trouble may have motivated NASCAR to scuttle Portland from the schedule.

Dale Jr. sheds light on the real problems

NASCAR’s Xfinity leg has been visiting Portland since 2022. In the fourth iteration of the Pacific Office Automation 147, Connor Zilisch won a trailblazing victory. But he would not get a chance to defend it in a fifth iteration, as NASCAR has removed the track from the 2026 schedule. Among the possible reasons cited, the track’s poor condition sprang up. BRK Racing owner Randy Knighton observed the lack of internet connection. This compels teams to watch the race broadcast or track car telemetry only by bringing their own generators and mobile internet hotspots. But according to Dale Earnhardt Jr., the problem lies deeper in racing.

On the final two restarts of Saturday’s race, the chicane maze confused a lot of drivers. Connor Zilisch’s teammate pushed Austin Hill to the lead, and on the following restart, Zilisch locked up his brakes and partially took the chicane zone. In a recent episode of ‘The Dale Jr Download’, Dale Earnhardt Jr. particularly lashed out against this area. “That little kink chicane, being the very first turn you’re going to enter after a restart at any racetrack is a bad idea. It’s just not a good design…We got four-wide on that final restart, and the majority of the cars missed the inner curb. The majority of the top five cut Turn 2.” Hence, Dale Jr. issued his cutting verdict: “I would just say, I’m glad we’re not going back.”

Both the IndyCar Series and Formula One race at Portland International Raceway. However, that does not bother Dale Earnhardt Jr., as NASCAR is an entirely different sport. He harped on why the track’s unique feature is a disadvantage for his beloved sport: “I think that hard right-hander to get over to Turn 2 is just way too much…I don’t have a problem with them hitting, but I don’t like the fact that none of them make Turn 2…This chicane is bulls—. You shouldn’t have this aggressive of a chicane at the end of the front straightaway, especially when you have a green-white checkered…It’s just no fun…Change the corner…just get rid of the f—— corner…It’s fine in IndyCar or F1 for them to run this type of corner. We don’t need corners like that.”

Clearly, Dale Jr. has not been happy with Portland’s presence in the schedule. With the racetrack going away, the veteran can feel a little relieved. Stay tuned for more updates!

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