William Sawalich racing at Berlin Raceway in Marne, Michigan on Saturday, June 29th, 2024. (Photo: Teresa Bennink | The Podium Finish)
MARNE, Mich. — On the heels of securing his sixth career victory last weekend at the Mid-Ohio SportsCar Course, William Sawalich and the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota were not only seeking back-to-back wins for the first time this season. They were also trying to win for the second consecutive time at Berlin Raceway with Sawalich being the defending race winner in 2023.
“We had a really good Starkey/Sound Gear Toyota Camry tonight. Can’t thank the guys enough,” Sawalich told Fox Sports 1 in Victory Lane. “In practice, I didn’t know the car was this good, but for sure proved a point here. Definitely, a tough track but glad we got to tame it and beat everyone pretty good, so it felt really good.”
The young 17-year-old qualified the No. 18 JGR Toyota on the pole with a lap time of 16.762 seconds at 93.963 mph in what would be his third pole position of the 2024 ARCA Menards Series season. While Sawalich has been strong in the limited starts he has had this year, the JGR driver had some competition from his rival competitors including Sean Hingorani, who made his return piloting the No. 20 Venturini Motorsports Toyota for the first time since the ARCA West Series finale last season at Phoenix Raceway where he claimed the West Series championship. Additionally, Gavan Boschele made his ARCA debut in the No. 55 entry, also owned by Venturini Motorsports, and started in the second position.
Once the green flag waved, Sawalich maintained the lead through the first two caution flags of the night. The first was for the No. 12 of Ryan Roulette spinning in Turn 4 and the No. 11 of Cody Dennison who went for a spin on the frontstretch following contact by Christian Rose in the No. 32. Afterward, the race went back green for 17 laps before the first race break of the night at Lap 75. Sawalich held the lead at the first scheduled caution.
Following the brief break from the action, the race resumed on Lap 81 when there was a slight lead change with Andres Perez taking the lead away from Sawalich for only four laps of the event before Sawalich regained the top spot at Lap 85 off of Turn 4. This would be the only lead change of the race.
Meanwhile, after the last race break of the night coming at Lap 126, the Berlin ARCA 200 went on a 70-lap green flag run toward the finish with no more cautions. In the final five laps, Lavar Scott in the No. 6 Max Siegel entry made a late charge passing the No. 20 of Hingorani for second and set his eyes on Sawalich for a potential first career victory. Unfortunately, Scott ran out of time and Sawalich took home his third win of the season and the seventh of his ARCA Menards Series career by 3.084 seconds.
William Sawalich pacing the field at Berlin Raceway. (Photo: Teresa Bennink | The Podium Finish)
Sawalich led twice for a total of 195 laps, while Perez led once for four laps. There were four cautions for 21 laps. Scott, Hingorani, Kris Wright, Perez, Toni Breidinger, Greg Van Alst, Boschele, Rose, and Amber Balcaen rounded out the Top 10. The next ARCA Menards Series race takes place on Friday, July 19 at the Indianapolis Raceway Park at 5:30 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1.
Furthermore, the ARCA West Series will be in action with two races in two days at Irwindale Speedway. The first of the two races will take place on Thursday, July 4th at 10 p.m. ET live on Flo Racing with the second race, Saturday, July 6th at 10 p.m. ET also streaming live on Flo Racing.
