Friday was supposed to be a rather tame day at the track as the Sonoma race weekend got underway. There was practice and qualifying for the NASCAR Xfinity Series with Shane van Gisbergen earning pole position, ending the day with an ARCA West race.
Well, despite William Sawalich dominating most of the event, the race ended in one of the most dramatic finishes ever seen at the historic California road course.
When Kyle Keller stalled on the frontstretch, it pushed the race into overtime and set-up a one-lap dash to the checkered flag.
Sawalich was in control with Alon Day directly behind him. Day is an Israeli driver and a four-time champion of the NASCAR Euro Series, but this was just his second start in any ARCA event.
He shoved Sawalich off into the first corner, sending the race leader completely off the track. Day ended up following him into the dirt, skidding back across the track and slamming fenders with Christian Eckes.
Sawalich got back onto the pavement still in the lead, only to have both Day and Eckes split him, moving Eckes into the race lead. Day remained in hot pursuit for the rest of the lap, setting him up for what most thought was about to be a classic bump-and-run.
Instead, Day went to the outside as they approached the hairpin, drawing even with Eckes under braking. Sawalich, who had recovered from his off-track excursion at the start of the final lap, was right there with them. He got into the back of Eckes, pushing him wide and cutting under him as the trio exited the final corner in a contact-filled battle to the line.
Eckes and Sawalich slammed doors and both drivers got into the wall on opposite sides of the track. As they raced to the line, they fanned out in a thrilling three-wide photo finish for the ages.
Sawalich was ultimately victorious with Eckes second and Day finishing a very close third.
Video of the finish
Sawalich, who competes full-time in the Xfinity Series with Joe Gibbs Racing, now has four wins as an ARCA West driver. After the dramatic victory, he told Flo Racing: “That was definitely our race. It just sucks that it had to happen that way. We did what we could to to get our car into Victory Lane.”
When asked about the final lap, Sawalich added: “I don’t know what happened in (Turn) 1. I don’t know if I overshot it or — I’m pretty sure I got ran into. It is what it is. It was a good race.”
At the checkered flag, Sawalich was just 0.066s ahead of Eckes with Day within 0.156s of the win.
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