Heartbreak for Brown, Perkins in Portland NASCAR race

Will Brown and Jack Perkins have encountered separate heartbreaks at the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Portland International Circuit.

Brown was ruled out of contention midway through the race on Sunday (AEST), while Perkins threw away a top three finish late.

Reigning Supercars champion Brown had taken his #11 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet Camaro towards the top 20 when the rear track bar mount failed. Before the race-ending issue, Brown had also suffered a cool suit failure.

It was another tough outing for Brown in NASCAR competition, with the Queenslander registering DNFs in his previous two Cup Series starts.

“I’m not exactly sure what broke in the car, something in the rear end that pretty much cruelled our day,” Brown told Frontstretch.

“I haven’t spoken to the guys yet, I just went and got changed. Disappointing, it was a tough run there, the cool suit was quite hot. It was pumping some hot water.

“We’ll have to have a look into to. Disappointed for everyone on the #11 crew at Kaulig. I know they all put in a massive effort to get us here. Not the run we wanted.”

In a manic restart with seven laps to go, Perkins moved from sixth to fourth as erstwhile leader Connor Zilisch was shuffled down. On the following lap, Perkins picked off William Sawalich for third.

The 2015 Gold Coast 500 winner, racing a Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, had run in the top 10 all day. Perkins was set for a stunning top three finish until he made a critical error in the closing laps.

Perkins was ninth at the end of Stage 1 and seventh by the end of Stage 2, but bowled a wide and stalled, triggering a caution.

Brown and Perkins will return to Australia for the AirTouch 500 at The Bend on September 9-12, followed by the Repco Bathurst 1000 on October 9-12. Tickets are on sale now. International viewers can watch Supercars on SuperView.