William Sawalich goes wire-to-wire in ARCA Series at Salem Speedway
SALEM, Ind. — For the third consecutive year at Salem Speedway, the driver who visited Victory Lane led every lap from the pole.
William Sawalich put together a dominant performance reminiscent of Jesse Love and Sammy Smith Saturday night on his way to his fourth victory of the 2024 ARCA Menards Series season. He survived multiple restarts throughout the night and no one in the field could touch the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.
Sawalich was thrilled to enjoy a relatively stress-free evening at a unique, fast facility like Salem, but made sure to extend credit for his wire-to-wire victory to everyone that helped prepare his No. 18 Starkey/SoundGear Toyota.
“My Joe Gibbs Racing team really brought me a fast Toyota Camry tonight,” Sawalich said. “I can’t thank them enough for all their hard work. We had a really, really good car tonight. Honestly, there aren’t too many complaints from me.
“It’s really easy for me as a driver on nights like this.”
Victories have been slightly more difficult for Sawalich to accumulate in 2024 compared to his efficient rookie year that saw him claim the ARCA Menards Series East title.
Sawalich has spent the year building a rivalry with fellow young prospect Connor Zilisch. The two have come together on several occasions, with Sawalich himself being forced to watch Zilisch take checkered flags at Dover Motor Speedway, Iowa Speedway and Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.
Although he has enjoyed plenty of stellar races already this year, Sawalich arrived at Salem Speedway determined to show the rest of the field he and Gibbs were not to be trifled with.
Winning the pole by more than two-tenths on his first lap set a commanding tone that carried over into the Salem ARCA 200. Sawalich effortlessly gapped the field on each restart and could barely make out Andres Perez in his rearview mirror by the time the checkered flag waved.
The last time Sawalich enjoyed a perfect race was his maiden victory on the East Series platform in 2023 at Five Flags Speedway. Sawalich formally introduced himself to the ARCA platform that evening by dominating from the pole, with that victory serving as the first major step towards the East Series title.
Sawalich currently finds himself with a small deficit to Zilisch in his quest to defend his East Series crown. With another wire-to-wire showing on his resume, Sawalich has plenty of momentum and time to usurp Zilisch in the East Series and rack up more trophies across all three ARCA divisions.
Following Perez in third was his Rev Racing teammate Lavar Scott. Will Kimmel emerged victorious in a heated three-car battle for fourth, where he was followed in the running order by Christian Rose.
The attrition that plagued the Salem ARCA 200 allowed many small teams to enjoy strong nights. Making up the rest of the top 10 were Isaac Johnson, Cody Dennison, Ryan Roulette, Brayton Laster and Kris Wright.
A busy three-race stretch for the ARCA Menards Series continues next Saturday with a trip to Elko Speedway for the Shore Lunch 250 presented by Dutch Boy Paints. FS1 and FloRacing will provide live coverage of all the on-track action at 8 p.m. CT / 9 p.m. ET.
RESULTS
Pos No. Name Sponsor Laps Diff
1 18 William Sawalich * Starkey/Sound Gear Toyota 200 —
2 2 Andres Perez Max Siegel Inc Chevrolet 200 5.314
3 6 Lavar Scott * Max Siegel Inc Chevrolet 200 8.617
4 69 Will Kimmel Weddington Custom Homes/Jax Wax Ford 199 1 Lap
5 32 Christian Rose West Virginia Department of Tourism Ford 199 1 Lap
6 34 Isaac Johnson * Endress+Hauser Ford 199 1 Lap
7 11 Cody Dennison * Timcast.com Toyota 193 7 Laps
8 12 Ryan Roulette * Bellator Recruiting Academy/VFW Ford 189 11 Laps
9 06 Brayton Laster * Peterson Motorsports Toyota 186 14 Laps
10 15 Kris Wright FNB Corportation Toyota 184 16 Laps
11 99 Michael Maples * Don Ray Petroleum LLC/Maples Motorsports Chevrolet 184 16 Laps
12 03 Alex Clubb Race Parts Liquidators Ford 182 18 Laps
13 31 Rita Goulet NationalPolice.org Chevrolet 171 29 Laps
14 55 Gus Dean Palmetto Grain Brokerage Toyota 149 51 Laps
15 28 Corey Day * Chevrolet Performance Chevrolet 132 68 Laps
16 25 Toni Breidinger Venturini Motorsports Toyota 132 68 Laps
17 35 Greg Van Alst Zaki Ali Personal Injury Attorney Ford 93 107 Laps
18 20 Jake Finch * Phoenix Toyota 88 112 Laps
19 10 Ed Pompa HYTORC of New York/Double H Ranch Ford 81 119 Laps
20 98 Dale Shearer Shearer Speed Ford 40 160 Laps
21 48 Brad Smith Copraya.com Ford 34 166 Laps
22 95 Andrew Patterson * Winsupply/SCS Gearbox Toyota 25 175 Laps
23 68 Mike Basham Clarksville Schwinn Ford 3 197 Laps
24 22 Amber Balcaen Icon Toyota 2 198 Laps
25 86 Chris Golden * Race Parts Liquidator Ford 1 199 Laps
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