ARCA West race ends in one of many wildest Sonoma finishes ever

Friday was alleged to be a relatively tame day on the observe because the Sonoma race weekend acquired underway. There was follow and qualifying for the NASCAR Xfinity Sequence with Shane van Gisbergen incomes pole place, ending the day with an ARCA West race.

Properly, regardless of William Sawalich dominating a lot of the occasion, the race resulted in one of the vital dramatic finishes ever seen on the historic California street course.

When Kyle Keller stalled on the frontstretch, it pushed the race into time beyond regulation and set-up a one-lap sprint to the checkered flag.

Sawalich was in management with Alon Day immediately behind him. Day is an Israeli driver and a four-time champion of the NASCAR Euro Sequence, however this was simply his second begin in any ARCA occasion.

He shoved Sawalich off into the primary nook, sending the race chief fully off the observe. Day ended up following him into the dust, skidding again throughout the observe and slamming fenders with Christian Eckes.

Sawalich acquired again onto the pavement nonetheless within the lead, solely to have each Day and Eckes cut up him, transferring Eckes into the race lead. Day remained in scorching pursuit for the remainder of the lap, setting him up for what most thought was about to be a basic bump-and-run.

As an alternative, Day went to the surface as they approached the hairpin, drawing even with Eckes beneath braking. Sawalich, who had recovered from his off-track tour in the beginning of the ultimate lap, was proper there with them. He acquired into the again of Eckes, pushing him large and slicing beneath him because the trio exited the ultimate nook in a contact-filled battle to the road.

Eckes and Sawalich slammed doorways and each drivers acquired into the wall on reverse sides of the observe. As they raced to the road, they fanned out in an exciting three-wide photograph end for the ages.

Sawalich was in the end victorious with Eckes second and Day ending a really shut third. 

Video of the end

Sawalich, who competes full-time within the Xfinity Sequence with Joe Gibbs Racing, now has 4 wins as an ARCA West driver. After the dramatic victory, he instructed Flo Racing: “That was positively our race. It simply sucks that it needed to occur that method. We did what we may to to get our automotive into Victory Lane.”

When requested concerning the remaining lap, Sawalich added: “I do not know what occurred in (Flip) 1. I do not know if I overshot it or — I am fairly positive I acquired bumped into. It’s what it’s. It was race.”

On the checkered flag, Sawalich was simply 0.066s forward of Eckes with Day inside 0.156s of the win.