NASCAR was in town at Phoenix Raceway and so Mother Nature had to be unkind to one of the series events. On Friday (March 8) night, it was the ARCA Menards Series.
Lightning and precipitation forced series officials to end the 150-lap race early at lap 115. In a makeshift victory lane, William Sawalich celebrated his first win of the 2024 season.
Two races are complete for the ARCA regulars. A new points leader and four new drivers are in the Frontstretch ARCA power rankings.
1. Greg Van Alst
For the second-straight year, Greg Van Alst left Phoenix with the series points lead. He did not have the most exciting result, 13th, and he and his teammate Isaac Johnson both spun in the race.
What positive takeaways can Van Alst take away Phoenix beyond the series point lead? He acquired a new sponsor for the race and he left with a clean racecar. Moreover, the next ARCA race is at Talladega Superspeedway. While Van Alst’s most recent trip there, in a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event, ended with an injury, he’s shown speed there in his No. 35 ARCA car. In all three of his starts there, he has started inside the top 20, including a seventh-place start last year.
Van Alst left Phoenix with the points lead, two clean racecars for his organization and confidence for Talladega.
2. William Sawalich
In only 14 career starts, Sawalich has five wins, 12 top fives and 13 top 10s. His lone finish outside the top 10 was a 13th-place showing at Phoenix last year, an event where he won the pole, led a race-high 94 laps and was in contention for the victory before a spin ended his chances.
Sawalich will continue to rack up impressive statistics this season. He’s already 41st in ARCA history with 617 laps led as well as 43rd with five victories.
Yes, Sawalich is driving in top-notch equipment for Joe Gibbs Racing. Let’s consider though that he’s still in high school, he’s taking two college courses and he’s only 17-years old. Sawalich has a very bright future ahead of him.
3. Gio Ruggiero
In his national series debut, Gio Ruggiero piloted the No. 20 Venturini Motorsports Toyota to a runner-up finish, one shy of matching Tyler Reif, who won last year, for drivers earning their first career win at Phoenix in their series debuts, too.
Ruggiero drove an ARCA racecar for only the second time. Sawalich on the other hand has 27 starts across the ARCA…
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