If William Sawalich’s confidence were a tradable asset on the New York Stock Exchange, it would likely be at an all-time high. Last week, the 19-year-old driver scored his first career NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series victory, as he topped the field in last Saturday’s race at Rockingham Speedway.
This weekend, he tackled the high-banked 0.533-mile Bristol Motor Speedway in Saturday’s qualifying session for the Suburban Propane 300, and nobody was faster in the session than the driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota GR Supra.
Starting Lineup: Suburban Propane 300 at Bristol
As a result, Sawalich nabbed his third career pole, and he’ll lead the field to green on Saturday night. After securing the pole position, Sawalich was asked if he was nervous while the final few cars, including Kyle Larson and Justin Allgaier, attempted to dethrone him as the polesitter.
“Not really, I knew I had a pretty solid first lap,” Sawalich stated confidently. “My second lap was pretty loose, but our SoundGear GR Supra was on rails in qualifying, and we were pretty good in practice. I think the track position will help us tremendously in the race.”
The Eden Prairie, MN native’s third career pole comes in his 43rd career NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series start.
Sawalich will be joined on the front row by Sheldon Creed, the driver of the No. 00 Haas Factory Team Chevrolet, who also scored his first career win earlier this season. Creed, who has always run well at Bristol Motor Speedway, was happy to finally get a race at the track started with a solid qualifying run.
“Qualifying has been tough for me here, for whatever reason. So, feel good for a front row start,” Creed said. “Just have to stay up front, navigate the lapped traffic well, have good pit stops, and try to stay towards the front.”
Kyle Larson, a two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, will start from the third position, driving the No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, and he’ll be joined in row two by Brandon Jones, one of Sawalich’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammates.
Sam Mayer, Creed’s teammate, secured the fifth-fastest qualifying time of the session.
Taylor Gray, Justin Allgaier, Carson Kvapil, Parker Retzlaff, and Brennan Poole rounded out the top-10 qualifiers in Saturday’s qualifying session at Bristol Motor Speedway.
