William Sawalich dominates the ARCA East Series for redemption at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway on Saturday night in the Music City 150.
NASHVILLE — Before Saturday night’s Music City 150, the presumption could be made that William Sawalich was not the driver to beat. He lost the General Tire Pole to rival Gio Ruggiero in qualifying. He entered the third ARCA Menards Series East race of the 2024 season third in points based on his finishes at Florida’s Five Flags Speedway (second) and Dover Motor Speedway (17th).
William Sawalich Dominates the ARCA East Series for Redemption at Nashville
The defending East Series champion shut down that sentiment emphatically at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway.
Sawalich led all but the first few laps Saturday at Nashville and cruised to his first East Series win of the season. The victory marked his second on the ARCA platform this year; he also won the ARCA Menards Series / West Series combination race at Phoenix Raceway in March.
On lap 4, Sawalich took the lead from Ruggiero, the pole-sitter who stumbled to fourth place before a flat left-rear tire sent him spinning into the wall of the first and second turn. Ruggiero, who entered Saturday as the East Series championship points leader, attempted to get back onto the track despite the damage to his Toyota. The team eventually pulled the car behind the wall.
That all but sealed Sawalich’s fate as the eventual race winner. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver successfully held off challenges from Connor Zilisch and Isabella Robusto on a handful of restarts throughout the 150 laps.
“It was a really good race; we had a really good Starkey Soundgroup Toyota Camry,” Sawalich said before adding his victory was an early Mother’s Day present. “Just really happy to be here. I love this track.”
Sawalich Redemption at Nashville
Saturday’s win is a redemption story for Sawalich, an All-American 400 winner who dominated last year’s East Series race at Nashville until the final corner, where a caution froze the field just before he could take the checkered flag. On the ensuing restart, Luke Fenhaus utilized a perfect restart to pull ahead of Sawalich and steal the victory.
Nobody had a chance to take the win from Sawalich in 2024. The final third of the event went clean and green to the finish.
The Music City 150 Results
Robusto, who placed sixth in her ARCA platform debut in March at Phoenix Raceway, finished second. She is now tied for the best result for a female driver in East Series history.
Robusto was supposed to make her ARCA debut in Nashville a year ago. That opportunity was foiled by an injury suffered in a Pro Late Model crash at North Carolina’s Hickory Motor Speedway. She sat out the rest of the 2023 season recovering from a concussion.
Zilisch finished third Saturday at Nashville, two weeks after his triumph at Dover.
Zachary Tinkle was recently awarded the 2023 General Tire Spirit Award for his off-track endeavors. He logged his first career top-five finish in the ARCA competition when he came home fourth at Nashville. Andrew Patterson rounds out the top five.
Tyler Scofield, Caleb Costner, Jayson Alexander, Hunter Wright, and DL Wilson finished sixth through tenth.
The ARCA East Point Standings
Including the scheduled halfway break, Saturday’s Music City 150 at Nashville featured four cautions. The first few when Ruggiero slammed the wall on lap 6. The second came out when Tanner Reif attempted to pit but instead hit the tire barrier entering pit road. The fourth and final yellow flag came out for debris on the backstretch with 61 laps to go.
Next Up
The ARCA East Series returns to action next week. Michigan’s Flat Rock Speedway hosts the Dutch Boy 150 on Saturday, May 18th. The 150-lap race on the quarter-mile oval starts at 7:50 pm ET with FloRacing providing live coverage.