William Sawalich won Friday's Zinsser SmartCoat 150 at Mid-Ohio, a 2.258-mile road course. It was the second victory this year and sixth overall for the 17-year-old development driver in the ARCA Menards Series platform. However, the celebratory burnout did not go well for the Joe Gibbs Racing speedster.
A former Quarter Midgets and Legends Car prodigy, William Sawalich took to stock car racing in 2022. Last year, he joined Joe Gibbs Racing pairing with crew chief Matt Ross. That year itself, Sawalich won in all three ARCA platform divisions, en route to the 2023 ARCA Menards Series East championship.
However, as William Sawalich proceeded to execute a burnout after bagging the win, he bumped the rear of his number 18 SOUNDGEAR Toyota into the outside wall.
Here is a video of the moment posted on X by Skewcar:
Sawalich was initially fixated on holding off Gio Ruggiero for the runner-up position over the final laps of the race. Recalling his battle with Ruggiero and his failed attempt at the burnout, William Sawalich said,
"I really wished I could have battled it out with (Ruggiero) there. I missed a shift on the backstretch which is why it looked like I brake-checked him. Then I hit the wall during the burnout. I've never done that before, so that's a first."
Next on the ARCA Menards schedule is the Berlin Raceway. The 200-lap event will take place on June 29 at 8 p.m. ET. The race will stream live exclusively on FloRacing and the FOX Sports mobile app.
William Sawalich's victory came at Connor Mosack's expense
Although the ARCA Menards officials declared Sawalich the winner, he was not the one to cross the start-finish line first. Instead, it was Pinnacle Racing Group's Connor Mosack. However, a late-race penalty ruined the day for Mosack and thus, made it for Sawalich.
Following the fifth and final caution brought out by Lavar Scott, Connor Mosack and Brent Crews restarted at the front of the pack. Mosack snatched the lead first and held on to it until the officials declared that Mosack had jumped the restart in an attempt to clear Crews.
Therefore, even though Mosack had crossed the start-finish line first, Sawalich, who was running second at the time, was handed the checkered flag. Mosack finished 13th being the last car on the lead lap.
Reflecting on the same, ARCA Menards Series posted,
"With @connormosack penalized for jumping the restart, it's @WilliamSawalich who receives the checkered flag at @Mid_Ohio to win the Zinsser SmartCoat 150!"
Unfortunately, the Venturini Motorsports driver led the most laps and yet, finished second. Crews' teammate Gio Ruggiero recorded a P3 finish. Thomas Annunziata and Marco Andretti wound up 4th and 5th, respectively. The other drivers in the top 10 were Andrez Perez, Toni Breidinger, Conor Daly, Brad Perez, and Greg Van Alst.