William Sawalich took the lead in the ARCA Menards Series West race at Portland International Raceway on Friday (May 31) shortly before the halfway break and he never relinquished it. He drove his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota all the way to victory lane for his second West victory in 2024.
Sawalich earned his first road course triumph in ARCA competition too. Overall, it’s his third West win and 13th in the ARCA platform.
He led 32 of the 57 laps in the first ARCA series road course race in 2024.
NASCAR Xfinity Series regular Brandon Jones came home second in the No. 42 Cook Technologies Raceway Chevrolet. Jones won the pole earlier on Friday but once he lost the lead to Sawalich, despite a few restarts, he never seriously challenged for it again.
Venturini Motorsports driver Isabella Robusto finished third, her second West top 10 in as many starts.
Tyler Reif was the highest-running West series regular in fourth ahead of fellow VMS driver Gio Ruggiero.
Dale Quarterley banged fenders with many other drivers, ultimately winding up sixth. Marco Andretti shared a similar tale as his No. 17 CRT Chevy looked like it ran on a short track and he too followed Quarterley in seventh.
Series regulars Trevor Huddleston, Kyle Keller and Takuma Koga rounded out the top 10 in eighth through 10th, respectively.
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