William Sawalich Grabs First Career Win at Rockingham

William Sawalich won the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Rockingham Speedway on Saturday, the first victory of his young career. The 19-year-old led a 1-2 finish for Joe Gibbs Racing in his No. 18 Toyota.

“It means everything,” Sawalich told The CW after exiting his car. “Obviously it was a tough year last year and a tough start to the year this year. These boys mean everything to me.”

JGR and JRM Sweep the Top Five

Brandon Jones finished second in his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, matching his best finish of the season. The top five was rounded out by the JR Motorsports trio of Justin Allgaier, Rajah Caruth, and Carson Kvapil. Saturday broke a five-race winning streak for JR Motorsports.

“What a hard-fought battle today,” Jones said. “I left Martinsville a little frustrated with myself last week. We just weren’t quite aggressive enough at times, and so today I was really adamant on, [being] super aggressive, taking all the runs I can get and put people in bad situations.”

Hard Times for Day and Clements

The beginning and middle parts of the race were dominated by Hendrick Motorsports prospect Corey Day. Winning both stages and leading a race-high 118 laps, Day’s No. 17 Chevrolet appeared impossible to catch when he had the lead with clean air. Once he lost first place on pit road, Day was unable to navigate back to the front.

Still, Day improved his points position from seventh to fifth at Rockingham. After a rough start to the season, the 20-year-old has turned the fruits of inexperience into the beginnings of a championship campaign.

Driver-owner Jeremy Clements appeared poised for a solid top-ten finish, before contact from Ryan Sieg sent him sliding into the outside wall. After nearly earning his best finish of the season, Clements was relegated to a 25th-place finish one lap down.

Cleetus McFarland’s O’Reilly Debut

Among the most anticipated entries of Saturday’s race was that of Cleetus McFarland, making his O’Reilly Auto Parts Series debut in the No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. The YouTube star started 26th and nearly spun in the first stage and did spin in the third stage, but rebounded to run as high as 30th. He settled in 32nd, six laps off the pace. Just hours earlier McFarland earned his first ever ARCA Menards Series top-five with a fourth-place run.

“As predicted, [I] got my butt kicked,” McFarland mused after the race. “But I finished the race. Our goal as a team was to finish the race and not get last. So we did meet our goals.”

Points Outlook

Justin Allgaier expanded his points lead with a third-place finish Saturday. The 2024 series champion leaves Rockingham with a 126-point cushion over Richard Childress Racing’s Jesse Love. Sheldon Creed is third for Haas Factory Team, 131 points out.

Sawalich’s win vaulted him to 11th in the standings, giving him the second to last spot in the NOAPS Chase. His Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Taylor Gray holds the cutoff position, 30 points ahead of Sam Mayer. Ryan Sieg moved to 14th in the standings with a ninth-place run, positioning him just 35 points behind Gray.

After AM Racing withdrew the No. 25 Ford from Saturday’s race, Nick Sanchez plummeted from 22nd to 27th in the series standings. He’s now 122 points outside the Chase, presenting him with a steep uphill climb if he hopes to race for his first championship. As the only full-time Ford driver in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, Sanchez’s absence drives up the chances of a Chevrolet-Toyota sweep of the dozen Chase spots later this season.

Race Results