- Sawalich bagged first NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series win at Rockingham.
- Cleetus McFarland did what he expected of himself and finished clean.
- Almost a good day for Day, but pit stop setback took him out of contention.
William Sawalich stole the show at Rockingham Speedway, sealing his first O’Reilly career win in 42 starts. The result also put Toyota Racing Development on the board for its first win of the season, breaking a run where Chevrolet had ruled the roost, from Austin Hill striking at Daytona to Justin Allgaier taking three of the last four races.
Here are a few details from the race that fans would probably be intrigued to know:
- Sawalich also wrote his name into the record books as the youngest winner at the 0.94-mile track across NASCAR’s top three series. He led 80 laps and crossed the line 0.863 seconds ahead of Brandon Jones, bringing the curtain down on a five-race run by JR Motorsports while keeping intact the mark of six straight wins for Joe Gibbs Racing. The win also punched his ticket to the Dash 4 Cash round at Bristol.
- Corey Day had the field at his mercy early, starting from pole and sweeping both opening stages, and he led the race for 118 laps. But a slow stop during the second break cost him five spots, and the day slipped further when he was forced to pit out of sequence on Lap 174 for a loose lug nut. He fought back from 24th over the final 70 laps to log his seventh top-10 finish in a row.
- Rajah Caruth turned heads with a drive to P4, his best finish in the series, pulling off a three-wide move past Sheldon Creed and Carson Kvapil with nine laps left to grab the final Dash 4 Cash spot.
- JR Motorsports placed three drivers in the top 10, with Allgaier, Caruth, and Kvapil keeping the team’s streak alive at 65 races with at least one car in the top 10, second only to RFK Racing, known in an earlier era as Roush Fenway Racing, which holds the record at 79.
- With a third-place finish, Allgaier stretched his lead in the standings to 126 points over Jesse Love, tightening his grip as the season rolls on.
Major incidents that happened at Rockingham
- In his series debut, Cleetus McFarland wasted no time racing like a pro. On Lap 4, he went three-wide and nearly paid the price, sliding sideways through Turn 1 before gathering it back up. The save kept him in the fight, but the field, as usual, did not wait, and he lost ground in the shuffle.
- Trouble came knocking on McFarland’s door again on Lap 49. As Blake Lothian spun and drifted down the track, McFarland took evasive action, diving to the apron and slipping past the No. 55 Chevrolet by inches to stay out of harm’s way.
- At the front, sparks flew early. Parker Retzlaff, who started P3, nearly saw his day end on the opening lap when his No. 99 Chevrolet broke loose off Turn 2 and clipped Justin Allgaier. Both drivers kept their foot in it and carried on, and ultimately finished their races in P8 and P3, respectively.
- A caution during the stage break brought a 10-lap slowdown before racing resumed in Stage 2.
- Early in the final stage, Jesse Love, who started P2, made a move off Turn 2 on Lap 71, only to get a shove from Rajah Caruth. The contact hooked Love’s No. 2 Chevrolet into the SAFER barrier. He later made an unscheduled stop on Lap 153 for repairs, dropping to 27th, two laps in arrears. Caruth, meanwhile, kept his race together and drove back to a fourth-place finish.
- With 78 laps to go, the caution flag flew again on Lap 172 when Ryan Sieg tagged Jeremy Clements in the left rear during a scrap just outside the top 10, sending Clements into the wall. He managed to regroup and later picked up stage points.
- On Lap 206, McFarland’s day took another turn when he spun in Turns 3 and 4, bringing out the seventh and final caution, but he managed to finish the race clean in P32, six laps down. The restart that followed proved decisive, handing control to William Sawalich, who did not look back.
- Late drama was not done yet. On Lap 222, with 28 laps remaining, rookie Brent Crews suffered a tyre issue while running near the front, forcing a green-flag stop that dashed his shot at a podium finish.
