Eden Prairie native William Sawalich celebrates his win of an auto racing series championship. Submitted photo
Eden Prairie native William Sawalich won his second-consecutive ARCA Menards Series East (AMSE) championship with a win at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee, on Thursday, Sept. 19.
Sawalich won two other races in the eight-race AMSE schedule – Nashville Fairgrounds and the Milwaukee Mile. The 17-year-old also has seven ARCA Menards Series wins and one ARCA Menards Series West win in 2024.
“It’s such an honor to bring home another championship to Joe Gibbs Racing,” said Sawalich. “My team has brought fast Toyota Camrys every single week and it has been an awesome season. I’m happy we could get the championship and the race win tonight and carry on the winning tradition at JGR.”
In ARCA East races, Sawalitch captured three victories and seven top-fives in eight starts this season. On the national ARCA tour, he won eight races, including four in a row (Salem, Elko, Springfield and Milwaukee), only finishing outside the top five once.
Sawalich will begin racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series later this season at Homestead-Miami Speedway, after he turns 18. He unveiled his car for that series to employees at Starkey in Eden Prairie this past August, prior to the race at Elko Speedway in Elko New Market.