Sawalich Wins Bristol Finale & Second ARCA East Title

William Sawalich celebrates his second ARCA Menards Series East title Thursday at Bristol Motor Speedway. (Scotte Sprinkle photo)

BRISTOL, Tenn. – William Sawalich knew coming into Thursday’s ARCA Menards Series East finale at Bristol Motor Speedway that he needed to win the race and have some help if he wanted to walk away with his second straight series championship.

Not only did he control what he could control – taking the checkered flag and leading the most laps in the process – but he got the outside assistance that ultimately allowed him to complete his title defense.

After a lap-64 crash in turns three and four swept up and eliminated Sawalich’s season rival, Connor Zilisch, the 17-year-old from Eden Prairie, Minn., needed only to finish ninth or better to come from behind and steal the big trophy away.

He left no doubt in the end, however, passing fellow teenager Landen Lewis for the final time with 33 laps left in the Bush’s Best 200 at The Last Great Colosseum and holding serve the rest of the way.

In total, Sawalich led four times for a race-high 102 laps in the No. 18 Starkey/Soundgear Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing en route to his second straight Bristol ARCA win.

Because the event was a combination show with the national ARCA Menards Series, Thursday’s triumph was both Sawalich’s seventh ARCA national win in the last 11 races and his second ARCA East win of the year – coming at the perfect moment to propel him to a less-than-likely season crown.

“We had a really fast car all race long,” he said. “[Spotter] Tony Hirschman was in my ear keeping me calm and made sure I was cautious around the lap cars, because that was really what the whole race came down to. Lots of restarts gave me plenty of time to work on them, and I can’t thank the [No.] 97 [Lewis] enough for racing me clean, because we’ve been friends for a while and that was a fun battle.

“There was a lot on the line this year, and we weren’t sure coming in [to Bristol] if we’d be able to get it,” Sawalich added. “It was a bit of a surprise, what happened to Connor mid-race, but it motivated me and gave me the drive to go after it and finish the job.”

Though Sawalich was driving away down the stretch, he did have to fend Lewis off one final time after Andrew Patterson blew a tire coming to four laps left, generating the night’s 13th caution flag and sending the race into overtime.

Sawalich got a perfect launch on the extra-distance restart, however, taking off and beating Lewis to the checkered flag by .397 seconds in the end.

While he could have easily changed his approach to the race after Zilisch fell by the wayside in the first half, Sawalich tipped he “stayed on offense” the whole night so as not to leave anything to chance.

“Honestly, [Zilisch’s crash] didn’t change much for us,” he admitted. “I just tried to win the race the whole time and do what I could do to win it and get maximum points.

“Luckily, doing that meant it ended out well for us.”

Behind Sawalich and Lewis, Rev Racing teammates Lavar Scott and Andres Perez were third and fourth, respectively. Perez leads the national ARCA points chase by 54 with two races remaining.

Dean Thompson crossed fifth as the highest finishing Venturini Motorsports driver, followed by Tyler Reif, sprint car and midget standout Corey Day, Jake Finch, Lawless Alan, and Andy Jankowiak.

Gio Ruggiero, who finished third in the ARCA East standings, cut a tire late in the race and had to make an unscheduled pit stop. He ended up six laps down in 15th.

After the crash damage he sustained in the incident with Logan Misuraca forced his No. 28 Silver Hare Driver Development Chevrolet to the garage, Zilisch was scored 26th in the final rundown.

Sawalich’s final championship margin was 12 points over Zilisch, after he entered Bristol 16 in arrears.

Though the ARCA Menards Series East season is complete, the national ARCA Menards Series returns to action Friday, Sept. 27 for its penultimate race, the Reese’s 150 at Kansas Speedway.

Race coverage is slated for 5:30 p.m. ET on FS1. Connor Mosack has won the last two Kansas ARCA races.