After he led the most laps in his ARCA Menards Series debut at Phoenix Raceway only to be spun on an overtime restart, William Sawalich topped that performance on Saturday night (March 25), leading all 200 laps at Five Flags Speedway to win the ARCA Menards Series East season opener.
The 16-year-old from Eden Prarie, Minn. wheeled his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to a dominating performance. He posted the fastest lap in practice, won the pole and won in his East series debut in Pensacola, Fla.
“I just got to thank this Joe Gibbs Racing team enough and we had a really fast Toyota Camry here […],” Sawalich told FloRacing in victory lane. “It was a fun race. Thanks to my competitors and team worked really hard to get this car as good as it is.
“For sure, I think the championship is in play as good as that race win was for us. I think we can try and dominate everywhere we go.”
In his East debut, Luke Fenhaus came close to passing Sawalich but ultimately wound up 1.169 seconds behind in second.
Venturini Motorsports teammates Jake Finch and Sean Hingorani finished third and fourth, respectively.
The only caution in the 200-lap race was the competition caution. As such, only the top four finished on the lead lap.
The East competitors next head to Dover Motor Speedway. That race will take place on Friday, April 28 at 5:30 p.m. ET with live coverage on FloRacing.
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