ROCKINGHAM, N.C. — Grabbing the lead and control of the race after a restart on Lap 172, William Sawalich pulled away over the final 79 laps to win Saturday’s North Carolina Education Lottery 250 Presented by Black’s Tire at Rockingham Speedway.
The victory was the first in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series for the 19-year-old Sawalich, the youngest driver to win at the 0.94-mile track in any of NASCAR’s top three series.
RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Rockingham
Sawalich, who led 80 laps, crossed the finish line 0.863 seconds ahead of Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Brandon Jones to end the five-race winning streak of JR Motorsports and preserve the series record of six straight victories for JGR.
“It means everything,” said Sawalich, who gained three positions to 11th in the series standings. “Honestly, it was a tough year last year and a tough start to the year this year. Gosh, it feels good to get it done here at Rockingham in front of an awesome crowd.
“Our Supra was on rails today, obviously. Good in Stage 1 (fifth), Stage 2 (second) and obviously amazing in clean air. Lapped traffic took me out last year (in a 25th-place finish), so that was running through my head a little bit, but, man, I just studied the race last year, calmed down — and everything’s fine.”
With the win, Sawalich earned eligibility for the first Dash 4 Cash race next Saturday at Bristol Motor Speedway (7:30 p.m. ET, The CW, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The top four finishers at Rockingham — Sawalich, Jones and third- and fourth-place finishers Justin Allgaier and Rajah Caruth — will compete for a $100,000 bonus in that event, with the top finisher among them claiming the prize.
Caruth, in fact, made a spectacular three-wide pass of both Sheldon Creed and Carson Kvapil with nine laps left to grab the last Dash 4 Cash position. Kvapil finished fifth and Creed sixth, followed by Taylor Gray, Parker Retzlaff, Ryan Sieg and pole winner Corey Day.
For the first half of the race, Day appeared to have the dominant car. The 20-year-old led a race-high 118 of the 250 laps and swept the first two stages — the first stage wins of his career.
But Day lost five positions on a slow pit stop during the second stage break and never recovered. On Lap 174, he pitted out of sequence for a loose lug nut and charged from 24th over the final 70 laps to post his seventh straight top 10.
“We had a couple of bad pit stops,” Day said. “We got behind there, and it was hard to dig ourselves out of the hole.”
Jones was pleased with the progress his runner-up finish represents.
“I left Martinsville a little frustrated at myself last week (after finishing 18th),” Jones said. “We weren’t quite aggressive enough at times, so today, I was super adamant on being super aggressive. I am going to take all of the runs I can get. I’m going to put people in bad situations, if I can, and just move forward.
“I think we did a really good job of it. We kept fighting both sides of it with balance today. Sam (McAulay, crew chief) did a great job taking all of my feedback and making a car, I think, capable of winning. It was just a matter of trying to get some track position, and he (Sawalich) got such a big restart on that last restart (after the seventh caution on Lap 206) that it was hard to catch him.”
Allgaier had the consolation of leaving Rockingham with a lead of 126 points over second-place Jesse Love in the O’Reilly Auto Parts standings. Love hit the outside wall after a shove from Caruth, lost track position on a subsequent unscheduled pit stop on Lap 153 and finished 27th, two laps down.
Additionally:
- Sawalich is the first Minnesota-born driver to win a race in any of NASCAR’s top three national series.
- Caruth’s fourth-place finish in the No. 88 JRM Chevrolet was a career best. He’ll drive the No. 32 Jordan Anderson Racing Chevrolet at Bristol while Kyle Larson will take a turn in the No. 88 Camaro.
- JR Motorsports put three drivers (Allgaier, Caruth and Kvapil) in the top 10, extending the organization’s streak of at least one driver in the top 10 to 65 races — second in the series all-time to RFK Racing, then known as Roush Fenway Racing (79 straight top 10s).
Note: Inspection in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series garage was completed without issues, confirming Sawalich as the Rockingham winner. The Nos. 20, 7 and 00 will return to the NASCAR R&D Center in Concord, North Carolina, for further inspection.
Stage 2 recap
Corey Day won Stage 2 to earn a clean sweep of the stages in Saturday’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Rockingham Speedway.
William Sawalich was second over Justin Allgaier, Brent Crews and Brandon Jones. Rajah Caruth, Parker Retzlaff, Sheldon Creed, Jeremy Clements and Carson Kvapil completed the top 10.
MORE: Full Stage 2 results
The stage started with familiar fireworks as Caruth and Jesse Love collided at Lap 71. Love slid ahead of Caruth exiting Turn 2, but Caruth darted left as Love went right. Caruth’s front bumper caught Love’s rear and sent Love into the SAFER barrier.
The two drivers also converged in the closing laps of last week’s race at Martinsville Speedway, leading to a prolonged post-race conversation and a confrontation between Love’s crew chief, Danny Stockman, and Caruth. In Stage 2 on Saturday, Love finished as the final car on the lead lap in 27th place.
Clements was running eighth at Lap 94 when he spun in Turn 1 for the third caution of the day. His No. 51 Chevrolet wiggled on entry and washed high before the right rear stepped out, sending Clements for a slide. Clements stayed on the lead lap, and after pitting for fresher tires, rebounded to earn two stage points despite the incident.
Finishing the stage in 10th, Kvapil reported a potential brake issue on his No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet.
During the stage break, Day lost the lead after a slow pit stop by the No. 17 crew, costing the Hendrick driver five positions.
Cleetus McFarland, in his O’Reilly Auto Parts Series debut, finished the stage 33rd in the No. 33 Chevrolet, two laps down.
Sam Mayer, driver of the No. 41 Haas Factory Team Chevrolet, ran 38th — last — due to an engine issue.
Stage 1 recap
Corey Day surged past Taylor Gray with three laps left in the stage to win Stage 1 in a frenzied finish to the opening stanza of Saturday’s race.
Day led 54 of the opening 60 laps en route to the stage victory over Gray, Brandon Jones, Justin Allgaier and William Sawalich. Jesse Love, Sammy Smith, Brent Crews, Rajah Caruth and Parker Retzlaff concluded the top 10.
MORE: Full Stage 1 results
The caution flag waved at Lap 49 for the first time Saturday after a spin by Blake Lothian. YouTube sensation and O’Reilly Auto Parts Series debutant Cleetus McFarland barely avoided catastrophe by diving left to avoid Lothian’s spinning No. 55 Chevrolet.
Under the caution, Gray and Smith stayed out as well as Anthony Alfredo and Kyle Sieg. All other lead-lap drivers hit pit road at Lap 51.
McFarland found early adversity in his series debut. At Lap 4, McFarland entered Turn 1 on the bottom of a three-wide situation with Josh Bilicki and Nathan Byrd. McFarland’s No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet slid sideways through the corner, but the Nebraska native maintained control and saved the vehicle. McFarland finished the stage in 35th, one lap down after falling off the lead lap at Lap 27.
At the front of the field, third-place qualifier Retzlaff nearly crashed on Lap 1. Exiting Turn 2, his No. 99 Viking Motorsports Chevrolet broke loose and caught the left-rear corner of Justin Allgaier’s car. Both drivers held on and settled into the race despite the dicey start.
Contributing: Staff report