Future NASCAR Stars to be on Display in ARCA Race at Watkins Glen
The NASCAR Xfinity Series may be where names are made, but this weekend, the ARCA Menards Series will give us a look at two blossoming stars, who are quickly climbing the ladder in the Stock Car Racing world.
17-year-old William Sawalich, and 18-year-old Connor Zilisch will compete in Friday afternoon's General Tire 100 at The Glen at Watkins Glen International. And with the NASCAR National Series also at Watkins Glen this weekend, it will put both young proteges under the microscope.
Heading into Friday, both drivers have shown relatively few blemishes.
While they are not running full-time in the ARCA Menards Series this season, the two youngsters have combined to win 11 of the 16 races contested in the series so far in 2024. They're expected to be the favorites yet again on Friday at The Glen.
Zilisch, who got his start in karting at the age of five, transitioned into sportscar road course racing in 2021. The driver would then dip his toes into Pro Late Models, and Late Model Stock Cars in 2022, and by January 2024, he had signed a multiyear development deal with Trackhouse Racing. Not only is he fast, but the 18-year-old speaks and carries himself like a 20-year veteran in the sport when he has microphones in front of him.
Likewise, Sawalich, who is a Toyota Racing development driver, has shown incredible poise, well beyond the date printed on his birth certificate, on and off of the track. The native of Eden Prairie, MN worked his way up the racing ladder through midget racing from 2017 to 2019 and later moved to Legends Car competition in 2020.
After impressing mightily, Sawalich took his talents to Late Model racing in 2021, where he really opened up a lot of eyes as he won six of his nine scheduled starts between a variety of series in 2022. Sawalich became the youngest driver to ever capture a win in the prestigious All American 400 at the legendary Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway in 2023.
Sawalich won four races in the eight-race ARCA Menards Series East schedule a season ago to score the championship in that series.
This year, he is defending his crown in the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, but he has found a consistent thorn in his side in the form of Zilisch. With one race left in the East Series season, Zilisch holds a 16-point advantage over Sawalich.
And Zilisch has paved his points lead over Sawalich in the East by taking the fight to the 17-year-old on his specialty -- oval tracks. While Friday's race at Watkins Glen is not an ARCA East championship event, it gives Sawalich a chance to gain a mental advantage if he can defeat Zilisch on a road course.
While both drivers have gained a reputation of being very clean, overall. The two drivers have had a couple of heated moments amongst themselves this season. Zilisch, who will drive the No. 28 Pinnacle Racing Group Chevrolet on Friday, snagged his first-career ARCA East win at Dover Motor Speedway earlier in the season after sliding up the track on a late-race restart, making contact with Sawalich, which sent Sawalich into the outside wall.
😱 YIKES! Contact with @ConnorZilisch sends @WilliamSawalich into the wall while racing for the lead at the @MonsterMile! pic.twitter.com/tXMvIOOXm2
— ARCA Menards Series (@ARCA_Racing) April 26, 2024
A couple of months later, more fireworks erupted between the two drivers in a fight for the race win at Iowa Speedway.
Zilisch, who wound up winning the race, took exception to the aggression shown by Sawalich on a late-race restart with 23 laps remaining.
FRONT ROW CONTACT ON THE RESTART!@WilliamSawalich 🆚 @ConnorZilisch @iowaspeedway | #Atlas150 | @FS1 pic.twitter.com/TEDzz6hs4o
— ARCA Menards Series (@ARCA_Racing) June 15, 2024
“I don’t know what I could have done different," Zilisch said of the contact from Sawalich at Iowa. "I feel like he just drove up the track and tried wrecking me. Then he about tried right hooking me down the back straightaway. I’ll have to talk to him and ask him what he wants me to do differently. It’s racing. I understand if he has to get me back once or twice, but you know I feel like he was pretty rough on me,”
While many expected that Sawalich's moves were attempted payback from the incident in Dover, and that very well might have played a factor in things, Sawalich claimed he made the contact with Zilisch in frustration that his competitor jumped a restart, which led to Sawalich getting heated.
“He jumped the start on one restart there. Lost a little bit of respect for him there," Sawalich explained. "Other than that I tried everything I could."
Will we see more fireworks between the two young, talented racers on Friday afternoon? We'll see. But after Friday's race is over, Zilisch will prepare for his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series start on Saturday at Watkins Glen. Zilisch will pilot the No. 88 Chevrolet Camaro for JR Motorsports, a team owned by NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr.
In all, the North Carolina native will compete in three NASCAR Xfinity Series races this season, and Zilisch will run full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2025 for JR Motorsports.
If you're a hardcore NASCAR fan, chances are, you've heard both of their names by now. If you're a casual fan, don't worry, Zilisch and Sawalich will become household names soon enough. And if you tune into FS1 on Friday afternoon at 5 PM ET, you'll get a chance to see them battle it out around the 2.45-mile seven-turn road course in New York.
TOBY CHRISTIE