William Sawalich earns his first ARCA Menards Collection grime race victory in Springfield on the Illinois State Fairgrounds on Sunday afternoon.
Springfield, IL. — William Sawalich reached a pivotal profession milestone throughout Sunday’s Springfield ARCA 100, his first grime observe victory.
William Sawalich Earns His First ARCA Menards Collection Dust Race Victory in Springfield
Not a dust racer by commerce, Sawalich relied on the power of his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota and momentum from a stellar 2024 marketing campaign to place collectively a usually environment friendly efficiency. Good execution from Sawalich on a one-lap shootout on the Springfield Mile enabled him to safe his sixth ARCA Menards Collection nationwide win of the 12 months.
The ultimate warning being thrown yards from the checkered flag was the one main impediment for Sawalich, who discovered himself extra snug with the distinctive fashion of racing at grime tracks just like the Springfield Mile.
“We knew what we had final 12 months and I felt like we had good pace,” Sawalich stated. “I simply needed to be slightly extra snug with the grime, which isn’t my factor. The fellows made a extremely good change on the midway break to get us slightly higher for the tip.”
Sawalich’s go to to the Springfield Mile in 2023 was the primary time he had been on a dust observe in a inventory automotive.
The 2 grime races for Sawalich on the Springfield Mile and the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds have been comparatively quiet outings. He ended up putting fifth in each occasions, all whereas gaining precious grime observe expertise to hold over into 2024.
Sawalich arrived on the Springfield Mile exuding the identical composure and maturity that netted him seven victories on the ARCA Menards Collection platform coming into the race on Sunday. A pole-winning time of 34.009 was all Sawalich wanted to take care of management on the entrance of the sphere all afternoon.
Amongst these trying to chase down Sawalich have been Isabella Robusto and Taylor Reimer, and each handed Lavar Scott through the one-lap time beyond regulation shootout to complete second and third, respectively. ARCA Menards Collection data present Robusto and Reimer turned the primary pair of feminine drivers to earn a top-three end in the identical race.
Robusto’s maiden ARCA Menards Collection grime observe look was eventful, as she needed to climb from the rear of the sphere after struggling a mechanical problem earlier in qualifying.
Reimer, who has loads of grime observe expertise, improved upon the eighth-place run she obtained in her ARCA Menards Collection debut on the Springfield Mile final season.
Neither Robusto nor Reimer had something for Sawalich, who obtained his second wire-to-wire efficiency of 2024 by main all 105 laps on the Springfield Mile. He’s solely three weeks faraway from his different flawless efficiency at Salem Speedway.
Regardless of not going through a big problem for the lead on Sunday, Sawalich by no means as soon as thought of a victory to be assured. Attrition impacted a number of different sturdy automobiles resembling ARCA Menards Collection factors chief Andres Perez, all whereas the one-lap shootout left him susceptible to his teammate Scott on a single-file restart.
Realizing Scott wouldn’t lower him any breaks following a frantic three-wide picture end between them and Kris Wright at Elko Speedway, Sawalich remembered the basics instilled into him about grime racing to make sure one other nice day wouldn’t go to waste.
“The one factor I’ve been informed about grime racing is extra throttle means extra flip,” Sawalich stated. “That’s all I used to be making an attempt to do, making an attempt to fuel it up and getting the rear to show.”
There are nonetheless a lot extra milestones for Sawalich to achieve in a inventory automotive as soon as he turns 18 years outdated in October. For now, Sawalich is content material together with his accomplishment and is concentrated on finishing a sweep of the ARCA Menards Collection grime races at DuQuoin in a few weeks.
Following Sawalich, Robusto, and Reimer within the high 5 have been Kelly Kovski and Scott. The remainder of the highest ten consisted of Toni Breidinger, Wright, Amber Balcaen, Christian Rose, and Tim Monroe.
Subsequent Up
ARCA Menards Collection rivals is not going to get a lot time to relaxation following a grueling, doubleheader weekend. The following venue on the calendar is the historic Milwaukee Mile, which takes place on Sunday, August twenty fifth at 1 p.m. ET and airs stay on each FS1 and FloRacing.
