By Jay Hardin Track Enterprises Staff
(Springfield, IL) Minnesota’s Williams Sawalich may only be 17, but he is a force to be reckoned with in all three of the ARCA racing series in 2024. The Eden Prairie teen posted victories in ARCA East, West, and the Menard’s national series running a part-time schedule in each, as well as selected starts in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. His ARCA record is one of dominance making him one of the favorites in Sunday’s 62nd ARCA Allen Crowe 100 at the Illinois State Fair.
Sawalich currently stands 11th in the ARCA Menards championship but might be leading if he ran a full schedule. As it is, he’s started 8 of the 13 events to date, winning 5 and finishing in the top 5 seven times. He’s completed 96% of the total laps in his 8 starts, failing to finish only one race. He led all 200 laps at Salem and 195 of 200 at Berlin. Throw in 6 pole positions and a series high 802 laps led and it’s easy to see why Sawalich and his Joe Gibbs owned Toyota are one of the teams to beat when they unload for an ARCA event. Sawalich claims 1 win in 6 ARCA East starts, and 2 wins in 3 ARCA West starts to boot. He’s led over half the laps in each race he’s competed in East and West.
Sawalich may be a teen but he is not a rookie when it comes to the ARCA dirt swing of the Midwest fairgrounds dirt tracks. He qualified third for last year’s ARCA Allen Crowe 100 and finished fifth on the lead lap, then took the pole two weeks later at DuQuoin, led the first 20 miles before finishing fifth on the lead lap. He comes to Springfield as a proven winner with 200 miles of dirt track experience in ARCA competition. Sawalich trails fellow teen and ARCA point leader Andres Perez by 203 points entering the August 16 event on the high banks of Michigan Speedway.
The 62nd ARCA Allen Crowe 100 is part of a huge weekend of racing that begins Friday night, August 16 at Lincoln Speedway featuring MOWA Sprint Cars, Saturday afternoon, August 17 with USAC Silver Crown and Sportsman at the Illinois State Fairgrounds, and Sunday afternoon, August 18 with the ARCA Allen Crowe Memorial 100 and the Sportsman Nationals at the Illinois State Fair.
Advance tickets for the Illinois State Fair races are available by calling the Track Enterprises office at 217-764-3200, by calling the Illinois State Fair box office at 217-782-1979, or by stopping by the Illinois State Fair box office.
Advance sale discounted tickets for the ARCA Menards Series event on Sunday, August 18 can be purchased in Central Illinois area Menards stores for a price of just $20. Stores selling tickets include Champaign, Danville, Effingham, Forsyth, Normal, Pekin, Peoria, Quincy, Springfield North/South, and Washington.
For more information, visit www.usacracing.com, www.arcaracing.com, or www.trackenterprises.com.