William Sawalich wins a wild ARCA West Series thriller at Sonoma Raceway on Friday night in the General Tire 200.
SONOMA, Calif. – For most of Friday’s General Tire 200 at Sonoma Raceway, William Sawalich re-established the dominant form he enjoyed during his time on the ARCA Menards Series platform.
William Sawalich Wins at Sonoma
A one-lap shootout forced Sawalich to dig in and fight for a trip to Victory Lane at the 1.990-mile road course. After Alon Day moved him off track in the first turn, Sawalich regrouped and gave chase as Day battled Christian Eckes for the race lead.
The pursuit lasted until the final corner, when Day attempted to pass Eckes on the outside while Sawalich drove underneath both. Eckes refused to surrender the top spot to Sawalich, with the two exchanging contact multiple times as they hustled towards the checkered flag.
Sawalich prevailed over Eckes by only 0.066 seconds, earning the hardest wire-to-wire victory of his career.
“That was definitely our race, but it sucks it had to happen that way,” Sawalich said. “We did what we could to get our Starkey Camry in Victory Lane, so I’m glad that we’re here. It took me a while to figure out how to do a burnout. “
William Sawalich’s Xfinity Series Career
A return to the ARCA Menards Series West was a much-needed change of pace for Sawalich, who currently finds himself oscillating between highs and lows during his rookie NASCAR Xfinity Series campaign.
Despite some struggles, two of Sawalich’s three Xfinity Series top tens this season have come on the road courses at Circuit of the Americas and Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. Sawalich developed a comfort zone for the discipline on the ARCA Menards Series platform, claiming two road course victories between the national division and the West Series.
Setting up the Closing Lap
A caution for Kyle Keller’s stalled car with three laps remaining had the potential to derail Sawalich’s perfect day. With a stalwart road course competitor in Alon Day, a four-time NASCAR Euro Series champion, behind him, Sawalich knew he needed to create as much distance as possible on the final restart.
No such luxury would be given to Sawalich. He was shoved off track going uphill into the first turn by Day. Day was staying right on Eckes’ rear bumper through the esses and in the 11th turn. Sawalich made up lost ground and put himself in a position to pounce on both of his competitors.
Day chose to take the top, entering the 11th turn. That gave Sawalich an open look at the rear bumper of Eckes. A slight nudge to Eckes’ bumper at the exit of the 11th turn gave Sawalich the chance to taste clean air again. He still had to fend off Eckes, who had the determination to win in his debut West Series outing.
Sawalich emerged from the chaos with a battered and bruised No. 18 that sat atop Sonoma’s scoring pylon. Returning to Victory Lane was a cathartic moment for Sawalich. He’s had a year of bitter work in the Xfinity Series. The young driver had hoped for a cleaner battle with Day to settle Friday’s race
“I’m pretty sure I got ran into,” Sawalich said. “It is what it is. It was a good race with [Day] and everybody else.”
The General Tire 200 Results
With the General Tire 200 now in the record books, Sawalich turns his attention back toward his Xfinity Series commitments. He is competing in Saturday’s Pit Boss / FoodMaxx 250 at Sonoma. He is starting fifth in that event.
Day settled for third after initiating contact with Sawalich in the first turn during the overtime restart. Behind him were the West Series points leader, Trevor Huddleston, and Tyler Reif to round out the top five.
The rest of the top ten included Eric Nascimento, Corey Day, Keller, Tanner Reif, and Jeff Anton.
The ARCA West Series Point Standings
Tanner Reif is 14 markers behind Huddleston in the series point standings. Just one point behind Reif is Kyle Keller. Eric Johnson Jr and Robbie Kennealy complete the top five.
Up Next
The West Series takes the next month off before returning to Tri-City Raceway on Aug. 9 for the NAPA Auto Care 150, which will air live on FloRacing at 7:45 p.m. PT / 10:45 p.m. ET.