The young racing driver Sawalich impresses on home soil and comes closer to his NASCAR dream

Race car driver and Eden Prairie native William Sawalich had a lot planned when he returned to his home state to race at Elko Speedway in Elko New Market. There was the event at Starkey Hearing Technologies, his primary sponsor, where he met Starkey employees and unveiled his new car, which he’ll get in the fall when he moves up to a bigger racing series. (Sawalich’s father, Brandon, is president and CEO of Starkey.) There was a meet-and-greet and autograph signing with fans at the Eden Prairie Menards. And then there was the main reason he was back home: a race in the ARCA Menards Series Shore Lunch 250 on Saturday night, Aug. 3.

He thought about salvation.

At last year’s race at Elko Speedway, Sawalich was thrown out by another car. He was able to finish the race, but only came in second. That was a disappointment, he said. Last year he won the ARCA Menards Series East championship, but he still wanted that win at the track where he started.

When asked what a victory there would mean, Sawalich answered clearly on the evening before this year’s race:

“Absolutely. It’s something very special, and of course to get the win for the home crowd. That’s probably the coolest thing,” he said.

A photo finish

Sawalich won this year, but that doesn’t mean it was an easy ride.

He was spun out again, this time on lap 150 of the 250-lap race. He had led most of the race up until that point. He got back in the lead, was bumped (but not spun out) with about a lap to go, and crossed the finish line as part of a three-way photo finish with his car spun about 45 degrees to the left.

Sawalich beat the second-place driver by about one-hundredth of a second and the third-place driver by about four-hundredths of a second in one of the closest finishes in ARCA series history.

“It certainly couldn’t have been any closer,” he said on the phone after the race.

“That was honestly one of my bigger goals of the year, to win this race in my home state,” he continued.

Sawalich began his racing career at age nine driving Quarter Midget cars at Little Elko, the shorter track on the site of the longer Elko Speedway. After a few years, he moved to the larger track.

And in a few months he will be traveling even longer distances.

New series, tougher test

The day before this year’s race at his home track, Sawalich had another business to attend to. He met with staff at Starkey’s campus in Eden Prairie and unveiled his car for the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

Sawalich will compete in the final three stops of that series in 2024, starting in the last week of October. That’s just one level below the highest level of stock car racing, the NASCAR Cup Series, and means he’ll be racing against tougher competition on longer tracks. (A lap at Elko Speedway is three-eighths of a mile; a lap at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Florida, where Sawalich will compete on Oct. 26, is about a mile and a half.)

He is looking forward to it – and has prepared for it.

“I’ve been preparing for this practically all year, spending time in the simulator, attending post-race meetings and just doing a lot of preparation just for these three races,” said Sawalich.

“The fields are a lot closer,” Sawalich continued, talking about the competition in the Xfinity Series. “Probably 15 cars could win this race, so that’s definitely going to be a big change. Everyone’s going to be aggressive, everyone’s going to want to get every little spot.”

In addition to Homestead-Miami, he will also compete in the Xfinity Series in Martinsville, Virginia and Phoenix, Arizona.