Portland International Raceway plays host to the NASCAR Xfinity Series this weekend with the running of the 3rd Annual Pacific Office Automation 147. There are 39 drivers entered for 38 starting spots on the grid. Barring any changes to the entry list, one driver will fail to qualify for the race.
Garrett Smithley will move over to the No. 4 for for JD Motorsports this week, making room in the No. 6 car for Patrick Gallagher. Gallagher has a road racing background and finished 25th at COTA for the team earlier this year.
Another notable road racing specialist and Xfinity Series veteran, Josh Bilicki, will be driving the No. 19 for Joe Gibbs Racing. Ryan Truex, who won earlier this season, will return to the driver’s seat of the No. 20 JGR machine.
Sam Hunt Racing will bring two cars to Portland, tabbing Ed Jones to drive the No. 24 and Sage Karam to drive the No. 26. Both drivers come from the open-wheel ranks and have raced in the Indianapolis 500. Jones has one prior Xfinity Series start, finishing 35th at COTA for Stewart-Haas Racing. Karam has raced several times in the series but only twice this year with a best finish of 28th at Daytona.
Austin Green, son of former Xfinity Series champion David Green, will drive the No. 32 for Jordan Anderson Racing. Earlier this season at COTA, Green notched a seventh-place result in his series debut.
Frankie Muniz, meanwhile, returns to the series driving for Joey Gase Motorsports this weekend in the No. 35. The former actor has two previous NXS starts under his belt but Portland will be his first career start on a road course.
Another independent driver, Preston Pardus, returns to the Xfinity Series for DGM Racing in the No. 36 car. He failed to qualify earlier this season at COTA driving for his family-owned team.
Along with Pardus and series regular Kyle Weatherman, DGM has entered a third car this week; however, a driver for the No. 92 has yet to be named.
Similarly, SS-Green Light Racing is entering a No. 14 car with an unnamed driver as an additional entry to its usual No. 07, which will be driven by Logan Bearden. Bearden has two starts this year with a best result of 22nd place.
The Pacific Office Automation 147 is scheduled for Saturday, June 1 at 4:30 p.m. ET. The race will air on FOX Sports 1 and MRN.
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