“It is what it is,” said William Sawalich after yet another heartbreaking result this season. The 18-year-old came with very high expectations ahead of his first full season with Joe Gibbs Racing. However, aside from a few odd top-ten results, the performances from the driver have left much to be desired. The outcome at Bristol was one of his worst finishes of the season, but despite the many setbacks, the youngster remains optimistic.

Only nine races have passed, and the Minnesota native has plenty of time to turn his fortunes around. However, given his age and inexperience, will the racer manage to break into the top five, let alone secure a triumph in the upcoming weeks?

William Sawalich comes to terms with Bristol disappointment

William Sawalich broke into NASCAR as one of the sport’s hottest prospects. The racer secured back-to-back victories in the 2023 and 2024 seasons of the ARCA Menards Series East and has 13 wins in the ARCA Menards Series so far. Going by the results, a part-time stint with TRICON Garage in the Truck Series was more than deserved, as the racer went on to make six appearances in his debut campaign back in 2023. He then transitioned to the Xfinity Series, where the results haven’t lived up to his hype.

The 2025 SciAps 300 was an opportunity for William Sawalich to redeem himself, but despite starting in 15th place, the driver endured his third DNF of the season after being involved in a wreck on Lap 212. Reflecting on the incident, Sawalich said, “Yeah, we were just running normal laps, and everyone checked up really fast off the floor. Just never got the call to slow down. Sucks, but you know, it is what it is. It’s part of it.” He concluded by saying, “Speed’s there, we just got to get luck on our side.”

In the nine races that he has competed in so far, Sawalich has only led four laps, raising questions about the so-called ‘speed’ that he is referring to. However, he had managed to steadily gain track positions at Bristol, even managing to get two points at the end of Stage 2 after finishing in ninth place. However, everything changed in Lap 212, when the youngster was running seventh.

Mason Massey spun down the front stretch after making contact with Justin Allgaier. What followed was a caution flag, and Connor Zilisch checked up. However, Sawalich did not have enough time to react to this maneuver and ended up ramming into Zilisch’s rear end. The No. 18 Toyota ended up suffering some heavy front-end damage after making contact, which forced Sawalich to retire. Zilisch, the JR Motorsports driver, who is also 18 years old, managed to escape the incident relatively unscathed and ended up finishing 12th. However, despite finishing 34th, William Sawalich took positives from the performance, as he went on to say, “I think this was a confidence booster for sure. So nothing to hang our heads about.”

Meanwhile, Connor Zilisch was putting up a decent run until the incident that altered the course of his race.

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Connor Zilisch sheds light on the Sawalich incident

After his Xfinity triumph at the Circuit of The Americas, Connor Zilisch was hopeful of doubling his win tally at Bristol at the 2025 SciAps 300. He even qualified in second place, just behind Kyle Larson, but fell back to sixth at the end of Stage 1. Desperate to make up the lost positions, the No. 87 Chevy driver scrambled to climb the grid, only to finish fifth by the time Stage 2 ended. However, any hopes of mounting a late challenge were dashed after he was rear-ended by William Sawalich.

Sharing his thoughts on the incident, Zilisch said, “Yeah, quite a bit of damage to the back of it. I just didn’t have much grip. Pretty frustrating. Feels like our car was just as good as our teammates’; all ran in the top five. Thought we’d have a good day, but such is life.” He went on to say, “I was already pretty checked up, and I thought I was good. All of a sudden, bam, and I was like, ‘Whoa.’ I don’t know what he’s doing. I feel like it’s every week with me and [William Sawalich].

While the results might not have been what either driver hoped for, both youngsters will now shift their focus on the upcoming race at Rockingham Speedway. Pressure is mounting on William Sawalich to get the first top-five finish of his Xfinity Series career, and after his “learning opportunity” at Bristol, it remains to be seen if the No. 18 Toyota driver will live up to the expectations in the weeks and months ahead.