- William Sawalich led the final nine laps to earn his third ARCA Menards Series and his fourth ARCA Menards Series East victory of 2023 Thursday night at Bristol Motor Speedway.
- Sawalich’s win locked up the 2023 ARCA Menards Series East championship for himself and the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing team. At 16 years, 11 months, and 11 days he becomes the youngest ever AMSE champion by nine days. Harrison Burton was 16 years, 11 months, and 20 days old when he locked up the AMSE championship in 2014.
- Jesse Love dominated at Bristol, leading 152 of the race’s 200 laps. He was passed by Sawalich on a restart with nine laps remaining and was forced to settle for second.
- Love unofficially extended his lead in the ARCA Menards Series championship standings to 131 points over Andres Perez with just two races remaining. Love can mathematically clinch the championship if he leaves Salem Speedway on September 30 with a 99-point lead.
- Perez finished third, his third top-five finish in his last five starts and his seventh of 2023.
- Jake Finch earned his best career ARCA Menards Series finish in fourth. Finch won the ARCA Menards Series East race at Dover Motor Speedway earlier in the season.
- Greg Van Alst scored his best finish since winning the season opener at Daytona International Speedway in fifth.
- Conner Jones survived early-race damage to the nose of his car to finish sixth, his eighth top-ten finish in eight starts in 2023.
- Landon Pembleton finished seventh in his first start for Mullins Racing and his first ARCA Menards Series platform appearance in 2023.
- Christian Rose finished eighth on the lead lap, his 11th top-ten finish in 18 starts this season. Rose has completed more laps than anyone else in 2023, 2151 of a possible 2224.
- Jack Wood recovered from an early-race bout with the SAFER barrier to finish ninth. Wood was running behind Luke Fenhaus when Fenhaus had a right front tire go down, forcing both to bounce off the wall.
- Fenhaus entered the night with a mathematical chance to win the ARCA Menards Series East championship but he finished 29th as a result of two separate instances of contact with the wall. He finished second in the AMSE standings, 53 points behind Sawalich.
- Andy Jankowiak finished tenth, giving him his second straight finish in the top-ten at Bristol. He finished eighth at Bristol in 2022.
- Sawalich is the 25th different driver to win at least one ARCA Menards Series East championship.
- The No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing team has won the last three AMSE driver championships. The team won in 2021 and 2022 with Sammy Smith driving while under the Kyle Busch Motorsports banner.
- The ARCA Menards Series platform returns to action with a pair of races on Saturday, September 30. The ARCA Menards Series is in action in the Atlas 200 at Salem Speedway, live on FS2 at 7 pm ET. The ARCA Menards Series West closes the night in the NAPA Auto Parts 150 at All American Speedway at 10:45 pm ET / 7:45 pm PT.
ARCA PR
