A rare desert thunderstorm shortened Friday night’s General Tire 150 to only 115 laps, but 17-year-old William Sawalich didn’t mind. He was leading when the heavens opened up over Phoenix Raceway and was declared the winner of the ARCA Menards Series race.
The Toyotas of Sawalich and Gio Ruggerio were the class of the field, but Sawalich started on pole, led 66 laps and finished the night celebrating with family, friends and sponsors inside a Phoenix Raceway garage as raindrops pelted the roof.
He never thought he’d win a rain shortened race in the desert.
“That was pretty far-fetched,” said Sawalich, who collected his fifth career ARCA Menards Series win and his first of the 2024 season. “But I knew a rain-shortened win was going to come at some point. Everyone said it’s kind of weird to win one (this way) – I really wanted to do a burnout – and it’s definitely weird, but a win’s a win.”
Ruggerio finished second, followed by Grant Enfinger, Connor Mosack and Sean Hingorani rounded out the top five, while Isabella Robusto finished sixth in her ARCA Menards Series debut.
The forecast for the rest of the weekend at Phoenix Raceway is fantastic, with a 100 percent chance of two more great races. The action continues at 2:30 p.m. Saturday with the NASCAR Xfinity Series’ Call811.com Every Dig. Every Time. 200. And then on Sunday, the stars of the NASCAR Cup Series will close out the tripleheader weekend with the Shiner’s Childrens 500 at 12:30 p.m. MST.
Only a scant amount of tickets remain for Sunday’s main event, so fans are encouraged to secure their seats while supplies last by visiting www.PhoenixRaceway.com.
NASCAR PR
