Joe Gibbs’ Monster Mile Polesitter Falls Off at Dover After Heartbreaking Tango With Trackhouse Racing’s Prodigy

William Sawalich lost his strong running spot at the top of the grid, battling Conor Zilisch, and brought out the 7th caution of the race to end his bid for another 2024 ARCA Series victory at the Monster Mile. The 2023 East Series champion started the race in P1, battling a handful of contenders, and fell out on Lap 109 of the General Tire 150.

Sawalich ends his day with a DNF for Joe Gibbs Racing

But after Zilisch’s #28 Chevy got loose on the restart with 42 laps to go, Sawalich’s #18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota slammed into the wall on Turn 3, effectively ending his day with a DNF. Prior to Sawalich’s misfortunes, Amber Balcaen and Christian Rose were involved in a heartstopping crash to bring out the caution, leading to the restart.

Zilisch, making his top 3 National Series debut finished 4th last month at COTA, winning his first pole and bursting onto the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series scene emphatically. For the General Tire 150 ARCA Series race, he started in P6 and maintained his track position throughout his 2024 Dover debut.

Sawalich on the other hand, was certainly disappointed after leading the highest number of laps and registering his first DNF of the 2024 season. In a post-race interview with Bob Pockrass of FOX, Toyota Racing Development’s 17-year-old prospect said, “We were just racing for the lead… Had a really good racecar that Joe Gibbs Racing prepared. I mean I can’t thank them enough… Made some adjustments at the brake. I thought it was pretty good. Just got together with the #28, not sure what was going through his head. I had a good restart. Put it on his door. I don’t know if he liked that or not. But me and the #20 were doing the same thing, so…”

When Pockrass asked Sawalich about his feelings after leading a race-high 67 laps and falling out of contention, he lamented, “It definitely sucks… Like I said our car was really good… But now I just get to watch the race.”

Conor Zilisch wins ARCA East debut as pole-winner watches on

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However, to pile on Sawallich’s misfortunes, Zilisch would trade in his P6 qualifying spot for an inaugural ARCA East Series race win at Dover, as the unexpected events unfurled for the General Tire 150. Gio Ruggiero of Venturini Motorsports could not follow up on his season-opening victory at Pensacola and finished right behind the #28 at P2. He led 41 laps out of 150, tackling a mid-race restart violation and a lap difference to score his second P2 this season, after the ARCA West Series Phoenix race, early in March.

While Carson Kvapil kicked off his Dover double duty with a P3, waiting on the Betrivers 200 Xfinity Series race, Lavar Scott and Andres Perez de Lara of Rev Racing rounded off the Top 5. Notably late in the race, after his #82 had taken damage on the right rear panel, his crew used a #28 signboard to patch up his Chevy SS. Kris Wright, Andy Jankowiak, Greg van Alst, Caleb Costner, and Zachary Tinkle filled up the rest of the top 10 spots in that respective order.