William Sawalich has been beaten up and emotionally challenged but it all culminated in his first NASCAR O'Reilly Series victory on Sunday at Rockingham Speedway.
As a (younger) teenager, Sawalich won at every step along the way, including 13 victories in the ARCA Racing Series, but went 0-for-41 upon reaching what used to be called the Xfinity Series. There were some ugly crashes along the way too.
He didn’t make the playoffs last year and this season showed promise but not the results until Saturday at the North Carolina Motor Speedway when he nailed the final restarts and executed through traffic in the closing laps.
“Obviously, last year was not going to plan,” Sawalich said. “We started to pick it up in the second half of the season, and my guys stood behind me, and that helped keep my head up after that first half of just bad luck and making some mistakes.
“But I’ve learned from those mistakes and honestly believe they have helped me get to where I am now. Even the start of this season hasn’t gone great but I have a lot of confidence going into Bristol. I think our points situation is good. This team is showing what we can do now.”
Sawalich is generally liked by his peers. The 19-year-old is regarded as an affable presence in the garage and both drivers who finished behind him on Saturday was happy to see him break through. That includes Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Brandon Jones, who previously worked with crew chief Jeff Meendering, and Justin Allgaier.
“I’ve been where he is,” said Jones of his 100-plus winless streak to start his own career. “Been there, done that. It is frustrating. It is difficult.
“But man, they ran a flawless race today. I really saw it. He flawlessly executed that restart, and it’s hard to do when you don’t have as many shots at it, that many chances, and it just makes me really proud of everyone at JGR.”
Allgaier offered all the empathy possible.
“Oh man, I can’t even imagine the emotions going through his mind right now,” Allgaier said. “Look, nobody wants to struggle. Nobody wants to have those tough days, but you can't realize how important today is without those struggles, right?
“And a lot of these younger guys, they win at every level at really an alarming rate, and you get here and expect it to be the same and it just doesn’t go that way. You start questioning everything – the team, the people and yourself – and it’s a hard place to be in.
“I've gone through it. I've lived it. But when you have a day like today and you're able to persevere and do a masterful job, I wouldn’t be surprised if it opens the door for him to go on a tear now.”
Sawalich said he just needed to compartmentalize.
“Resetting every week was probably the toughest part,” Sawalich said. “It definitely mentally impacts you when you carry a bad finish over to the next week. I’ve had to learn to apply the positives to even bad finishes. Confidence is a huge thing for a driver and I’ve learned a lot about that over the past year.”
