William Sawalich Overcomes a Late Race Wreck To Win in Wild Finish at Elko Speedway

Who doesn’t love a little bit of adversity?

Leading the field to green for The Shore Lunch 250 at Elko Speedway, William Sawalich was the favorite to win from the pole. The 17-year-old dominated every lap but one for the first half of the event, and the No. 18 Soundgear Toyota was cruising to a guaranteed victory in front of his hometown crowd.

Then, with 101 laps to go, the No. 99 Chevrolet of Michael Maples seemingly missed the corner, and rammed into Sawalich’s car. This sent the driver of the Joe Gibbs Racing machine spinning and brought out the caution. It would lead to an uphill climb for the young driver.

Drama at @Elko_Speedway and BIG TROUBLE FOR OUR LEADER!

Contact with Michael Maples sends @WilliamSawalich around!

? FS1 / @FloRacing pic.twitter.com/tC3RRXRx03

— ARCA Menards Series (@ARCA_Racing) August 4, 2024

From there, the Minnesota native had to battle his way back to the front of the field. With 92 laps remaining, it was time to see the Soundgear Toyota work from eighth to first. Sawalich’s pursuit to victory was helped by a late-race caution with 17 laps to go, as they put him and the race leader, Lavar Scott, side-by-side on the impending restart.

This late-race restart led to a thrilling three-wide finish where Sawalich, Scott, and Kris Wright’s cars slid sideways across the line! And, by only 0.011 seconds, the No. 18 finished ahead of the rest.

Video: Sawalich Wins in WILD Three-Wide Sideways Finish with Scott and Wright

This win marks the soon-to-be 18-year-old’s 10th in the ARCA Menards Series and his fourth victory in the last five races. This win though was one of the more emotional ones.

“That was one of the best races I’ve ever put together and this team has ever put together,” Sawalich told Heather Debeaux on FS1, “Just really shows our teamwork and dedication towards this race and obviously in front of the home crowd this is awesome. I mean, this is the coolest thing ever to do this. And I was racing legend cars here four years ago so it’s pretty emotional.”

While Sawalich tasted the spoils of victory yet again, it was a heartbreaking near-miss for Scott and Wright, who were each seeking their first career wins.

Isabella Robusto finished right behind the three-wide dash to the line. After getting caught up in an incident on lap 125 with Maples and Scott, the nose of her No. 55 Mobile 1 Toyota had significant damage. Luckily, she was able to bounce back from this completing The Shore Lunch 250 inside the top-five.

Wrong place, wrong time for @IsabellaRobusto moments before the mid-race break at @Elko_Speedway!

? FS1 / @FloRacing pic.twitter.com/LjYRTYLzBL

— ARCA Menards Series (@ARCA_Racing) August 4, 2024

Finishing the event at Elko Speedway right behind Robusto was ARCA Menards Series points leader, Andres Perez de Lara in the fifth position.

E.J. Tomayo, making his series debut, finished in sixth. Toni Breidinger, debuting her primary partnership with Sunoco, finished the race in seventh while Sean Hingorani, Greg Van Alst, and Christian Rose rounded out the rest of the top 10.

The ARCA Menards Series will take two weeks off before returning to Michigan International Speedway on Friday, August 16. That race is scheduled to be aired at 6:00 p.m. ET on FS1.

Race Results from the ARCA Elko ‘The Shore Lunch’ 250