William Sawalich Takes Bristol Win, ARCA East Title

In a race marred by an event-record 13 cautions, William Sawalich executed a flawless restart late in the going to score the victory in the Bush’s Beans 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway on his way to the ARCA Menards Series East championship.

Sawalich’s triumph was his eighth ARCA Menards Series one in 2024, his 12th career one, his third East victory in ’24 and seventh overall.

Of the race’s 13 cautions, the most significant by far came early in the race on lap 66, as Amber Balcaen and Logan Misuraca came together in front of the leaders, with Misuraca spinning and washing down the track to collect Connor Zilisch.

Zilisch, who entered Thursday (Sept. 19) as the East points leader, needed only a finish of 12th or better to seal the series championship. After winning the pole and swapping the lead early with eventual winner Sawalich, Zilisch was taken out in the lap 66 incident with Misuraca.

With Zilisch’s misfortune, Sawalich saw his opportunity arise to seal the series championship, and he did so in style as he marched to the victory.

Sawalich’s victory would not be uncontested, however, as Landen Lewis proved to be a tough challenger to Sawalich, as he took the lead on several restarts and made Sawalich earn his victory.

Lewis completed an impressive run for his CR7 Motorsports team with a second-place finish with Lavar Scott charging from the back to finish third in a solid rebound effort.

National series points leader, Andres Perez, followed his Rev Racing teammate home in fourth position, while Dean Thompson scored Venturini Motorsports’ best finish on the afternoon with a fifth place effort.

ARCA Menards Series West points leader, Tyler Reif, finished sixth followed by dirt racing standout Corey Day who finished seventh in just his second series start.

Jake Finch, who started in the back with Scott, also had a nice rebound drive to finish the day eighth for his family’s team. Lawless Alan finished ninth, and Andy Jankowiak rounded out the top 10 finishers as the last car on the lead lap.

While the ARCA East season has concluded, the ARCA national series still has two more events on its calendar with the next being the Reese’s 150 from Kansas Speedway. The race will be covered live on Fox Sports 1 at 5:30 p.m. ET on Friday, Sept. 20.