William Sawalich celebrates victory at Phoenix Raceway. (Photo: Landen Ciardullo/The Podium Finish)
AVONDALE, Ariz. – William Sawalich and the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing team grabbed the checkered flag in the ARCA Menards Series race at Phoenix Raceway after lightning and heavy rain caused the race to be called at Lap 115, just 35 laps short of the scheduled race distance of Lap 150. Sawalich held off Gio Ruggiero in what would be the final restart of the race with 55 laps left and went on to win the 10th ARCA Menards Series victory of his career.
“Not the way I wanted to win the race, but we for sure had the best car out there,” Sawalich said about the victory to Fox Sports 1’s Josh Sims. “The Starkey/Sound Gear Toyota was good all night. We kind of fell back in that first stint, but then the guys made a really good adjustment. I’m proud of them for doing that and sticking with me. We just ran a good race and I knew we had a chance to win it.”
Following a few weeks off after the season opener at Daytona International Speedway, the ARCA Menards Series headed out west for their second race of the 2024 season. The race featured a unique format as this also was a combination race with the ARCA Menards West Series. This meant that drivers in the West Series would earn points based on their finishing position.
A timed qualifying session was held earlier in the afternoon and it was the No. 18 of Sawalich who secured the pole position for the 10th time in his ARCA Menards Series career.
From the drop of the green flag, Sawalich was tough to beat as he led through the first 20 laps of the race with Ruggiero running close behind in second. Eventually, Ruggiero took the lead from the Joe Gibbs Racing driver at Lap 20 after Sawalich got held up by the No. 12 of Ryan Roulette coming to the start/finish line. This allowed Ruggiero to dive is No. 20 Venturini Motorsports machine in the dog leg to grab the lead.
The Venturini Motorsports driver would keep Sawalich at bay for the next 48 laps before the second caution of the race flew at Lap 60 to bunch the field back together. The caution came out for a three-car accident involving the No. 05 of David Smith, No. 88 of Jake Bollman, and the No. 19 of Eric Johnson Jr in Turn 3.
One more yellow came out at Lap 70 before the scheduled break at Lap 75 due to Greg Van Alst spinning in Turn 4. This would set up a one-lap dash to the break, however, Sawalich’s car was good enough to hang onto the lead when the red flag came out.
After the brief break, the race went back to green with 70 laps to go. Sawalich was ready to check out over his competitors, but another caution came out 10 laps later for the No. 34 of Isaac Johnson who spun in Turn 3. A restart came at 55 laps to go with Sawalich and Ruggerio leading the way. Eventually, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver of Sawalich came ahead as the leader.
The leaderboard would stay that way for the rest of the race with Sawalich at the top of the board, as inclement weather brought the race to a halt with 35 laps to go. With hope the rain would pass in a short matter of time, it proved too much to handle as ARCA officials declared the race official and Sawalich the race winner. Due to this event being a combination race with the ARCA Menards West Series, Sawalich would also be credited with a victory in the West Series.
There were six cautions for 35 laps and four lead changes among two different leaders. Sawalich led three times for 66 laps en route to victory. Ruggiero, Grant Enfinger, Connor Mosack, Sean Hingorani, Isabella Robusto, Jack Wood, Andres Perez, Toni Breidinger, and Lavar Scott rounded out the Top 10.
The next ARCA Menards Series race will take place at Talladega Superspeedway, on Saturday, April 20 live on Fox Sports 1.
